Set in the quintessentially Portuguese ambience of Panjim, Goa, Elsa’s Joint is a delightful novel about the petty troubles and travails that mark the lives of its residents—of course, for them, they are neither petty nor small, but major earth-shattering events. It all begins when Mr. Fernandes loses his German-made umbrella in a church, where he goes to give a lecture on Panjim’s history. Elsa’s joint, the tavern where all and sundry get together, ...
