🇵🇹 Reading list
The island in its own language — the great Madeiran novelists and poets, the definitive histories, and the cookbooks straight from the source.
The acclaimed debut novel (in Portuguese) by Funchal journalist Helena Marques, set in late-19th-century Funchal — the Vaz de Lacerda family and its women across generations. Winner of the Portuguese Writers’ Association Grand Prize.
Helena Marques’s second novel (in Portuguese), continuing the search-for-roots theme of O Último Cais as two cousins travel in search of their family’s identity.
The collected poems of Funchal-born Herberto Helder (1930–2015), widely regarded as one of the greatest Portuguese poets of the late 20th century.
Volume IV of Rui Carita’s monumental Portuguese-language history of Madeira, on the 18th century: royal centralisation, the captain-general, the Church and the treasury.
The reference history (in Portuguese) of Madeira’s vine and wine from the 15th to the 20th century, by historian Alberto Vieira, director of the Atlantic-history study centre (CEHA).
The oldest narrative chronicle of Madeira’s history (written before 1590), recounting the island’s discovery and the deeds of its captains — a foundational primary source, in a modern Portuguese edition.
A Portuguese-language book on traditional Madeiran cooking, with 30+ regional recipes (including bolo do caco and bolo de mel) and notes on the island’s food history.
A novel by Funchal-born writer Ana Teresa Pereira on identity, memory and marriage — winner of the 2017 Oceanos Prize for Portuguese-language literature.