Coelho's book has touched everyone soul. Makes people to see all their guilt, fears, pain, and above all their love. His simple style leaves them questioning themselves. Do they follow the path of good or evil? The story (told in third person) takes place in Viscos, a village that is very far from civilization and unmarked on the map. A place where the people living know that they will be the last generation settled there. There are no children left, a place where every day is the same. All people from Viscos know that there is no chance to change anything in their monotonous day to day life. But change is on the horizon, Chantal Prym is young orphan girl who is working as waitress in local hotel. She is the youngest person in the town, with bright blue eyes, long brown hair and smile that never leaves her face. She is able to receive sympathy from everyone and her indecision made a lot of worries and problems for her. The character of Chantal showed people strategies on how to deal with serious life questions concerning how to decide which path they should chose to follow. For example:
How to judge people around them?
How do live life easier than before?
The story begins with old Berta. As the oldest inhabitant of the village she is always sitting outside her front door as she has done for fifteen years. She always had the ability to express her spiritual skills after the death of her husband but, for first time she has a feeling that something bad is going to happen. Berta has a terrifying premonition when she sees a stranger approaching the village's only hotel, not because he is alone but because he is accompanied by inner demons. As the stranger arrives he carries with him a backpack containing a personal notebook along with eleven gold bars. What his gift to the villagers is a choice between good and evil. The result is the paths chosen by the unassuming villagers once confronted with the en...