Self-referential ... At times... words carry a weight in Portuguese that is absent from the English ... There is no English text without its Portuguese counterpart, no story without an origin, no daughter without mother, no immigrant without birthplace—but there is also no immigrant without a new home, no daughter without an identity of her own, no story without a middle, and an end, and no Portuguese, anymore, without English layered atop it, redefining, translating, forcing a fictionalizing cycle.
Has a placid surface, not quite toneless but reserved, reflective. The troubles that arise may disturb the speaker’s composure, but their persistence provides a basis for assessment and wondering.
Told in simple but moving language, the book draws one into what must be a largely autobiographical novel ... It’s that deeply emotional, clear writing that conveys so much in Dantas Lobato’s writing. She says so much with so few words we don’t have to imagine what is going on, we feel it and see it and hear it. That is the gift of good writing.
This moving novel captivates with its exploration of love and separation, motherhood and daughterhood, and the comfort and inspiration found in maintaining a bond across the miles.
An intimate meditation on home and homesickness, belonging and wanting to belong, on what it means to leave and be left, and the many tiny ways of attempting to bridge an impossible distance.
A quiet book ... Its atmosphere is muted, its focus selective and precise ... The absence of names allows the reader to perceive the roles (‘mother,’ ‘daughter’) as if they were fluid, interchangeable … This is where Dantas Lobato can masterfully flip a word like a coin, drawing attention to the transient roles assigned to her characters ... Blue Light Hours is surprising in the way it incorporates technology organically, without drawing too much attention to the fact ... [Lobato] mines the Skype calls for subtle moments that owe their nature to the medium and yet convey the fragile, at times surreal essence of the bond.
