One December morning in 2011, one of us had the idea, quickly sent to the other side of the world, of doing something about the one that got away – The Mystery of the Sintra Road – the almost forgotten novel that Eça de Queiróz wrote in collaboration with Ramalho Ortigão. And the something we ought to do was to collaborate on a translation.
To that end, with no experience of working together, but with the support of Mr Eric Lane of Dedalus Books, we began the translation, one of us in England, a well-known translator of the works of Eça de Queiroz; the other in New Zealand, an obscure enthusiast for the Portuguese language, each of us with a computer and a store of optimism and patience.
As for who translated what, we can truthfully say that every page has felt the hand of us both.