Such a cute story! Set in rural northeastern Brazil, a young man goes to fulfill the dying wishes of his mother: go find his father and grandmother, and light candles at the feet of 3 saint statues. The man, Samuel, discovers that he can hear people's prayers to St Antonio (the patron saint of weddings), and things get more chaotic from there.

This story is heavily influenced by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (the author studied under him) and besides the magical realism and straightforward plodding sentence structure, you can recognize plotlines from other Garcia Marquez stories. I confess that I have read very little of GGM and haven't loved what I've read, but The Head of the Saint takes a departure from the inherent sadness and melancholy weaved into GGM's stories and ends on such a sweet note.

This would be a nice book to pick up if you are looking for a contemporary Brazilian story that isn't too literary (most national stories that get published here are very stuffy).