Victor Rangel Ribeiro published his first novel in 1998, at the age of seventy-two. It took its name from a fictional village, Tivolem, and is among the finest novels ever to be written about Goa. Peopled with a richly varied cast of characters it conjures up an idiosyncratic world of reclusive musicians, charming thieves and querulous village gossips.
In his new book, a collection of fiction entitled The Miscreant, Selected Stories 1949-2016 (soon to be published by Serving House Books), Victor returns to his fictional Tivolem giving us fresh glimpses into the inner life of this unique corner of the world. What makes Tivolem distinctive is that the village is deeply rooted in its own soil while also being extremely consmopolitan: many of its inhabitants have lived in other countries and continents, often in far corners of the Portuguese Empire. Victor himself partakes fully of this cosmopolitanism having spent much of his life in New York. This aspect of his life is also well-represented in The Miscreant, which has several insightful and observant stories set in Mumbai and New York.
Once again Victor proves himself to be an accomplished prose stylist and storyteller.