Page 56 of Adultery

But one thing will be forever marked on the soul of the universe: my Love. All in spite of my mistakes, my decisions that caused others to suffer, and the moments when I thought it didn't exist.

I LEAVE the window and call out to my children and husband. I say that--according to tradition--we have to climb up on the sofa in front of the fireplace and, exactly at midnight, step on the floor with our right foot.

"Darling, it's snowing!"

I rush to the window again and look at the light of one of the streetlamps. Yes, it's snowing! How had I not noticed before?

"Can we go outside?" asks one of the children.

Not yet. First we will climb on the sofa, eat twelve grapes, and save the seeds to have prosperity all year long. We will do everything we learned from our ancestors.

Then we will go outside to celebrate life. I am sure that the new year will be excellent.

Geneva, November 30, 2013

An A. A. Knopf Reading Group Guide

Adultery by Paulo Coelho

The questions, discussion topics, and reading list that follow are intended to enhance your reading group's discussion of Adultery, international best-selling author Paulo Coelho's gripping, intensely psychological portrait of a marriage on the brink of collapse, and the complex emotions that surface when trust is breached in a relationship.