Set in the aftermath of the "Carnation Revolution" of April 25, 1974,
Antonio Lobo Antunes's Warning to the Crocodiles is a fragmented
narrative of the violent tensions resulting from major political changes
in Portugal.
Told through the memories of four women who spend their days fashioning
homemade explosives and participating in the kidnap and torture of
communists, the novel details the clandestine activities of an extreme
right-wing Salazarist faction resisting the country's new embrace of
democracy.
Warning to the Crocodiles (Exortação aos Crocodilos) has won:
- Best Novel by the Portuguese Writers Association (Grande Prémio de
Romance e Novela da Associação Portuguesa de Escritores) (1999)
- The D. Dinis Prize of the Casa de Mateus Foundation (Prémio D. Dinis
da Fundação Casa de Mateus) (1999)
- The Austrian State Literature Prize (Prémio de Literatura Europeia do
Estado Austríaco) (2000)