And On The Seventh Day: the Trilogy by Paulo Coelho

“And on the Seventh Day” is a three-book series by Paulo Coelho, published in three different years. These three books are connected thematically and threadbare of the connection of forgiveness and redemption from the temptation of the evil. It depicts the eternal human struggle to rip the evil and unleash to good for better humankind. The worth of good is overshadowed by the darkness of the heart.

The first story, “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness,” is about two young lovers meeting and asking difficult questions about their suppressed feelings for one another. Rediscovering and having self-knowledge helps them to look deeper and feel strongly for each other and revive truth in their hearts.

This trilogy is about the journey of self-discovery in the life of someone who is ordinary, and in whose life something extraordinary happens. Read this trilogy to ride into the voyage of your own self-discovery and get enchanted with the magic of achieving your most special apprehension profoundly.

About the Author:

With the groundbreaking record of selling 320 million copies of books sold and translated into 170 countries in 83 languages globally, Paulo Coelho is a living legend and one of the most widely acclaimed authors of life-changing stories that capture the soul and mind of the reader.

Born in Rio de Janeiro on the 24th of August, 1947, Paulo Coelho grew up in a devout Catholic family where his parents raised him to have a worthy profession and a living ingrained with the values of Catholicism. Being the son of an engineer, his parents reared high hopes of involving him in a respectable and socially revered profession. But Coelho was steadfast with his unwavering determination to become a writer, which was not deemed as a noble profession in Brazil at that time.

Worried by his defiant nature and grit to become a writer, his Catholic parents committed him to a mental institution when he was 17 years old. He escaped three times before he was finally released at the age of 20. He abandoned his dream of becoming a writer and joined Law school to appease his parents. Within a year, he dropped out of law school and lived the life of a hippie – a popular new culture of leading a bohemian life at that time. Soon he traveled around South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe like a nomad, and upon his return to Brazil, he became a lucrative song writer, actor, journalist, and theater director before pursuing his writing career.

Coelho’s spiritual awakening during his travel:

While Coelho walked along the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain in 1986, his passion for becoming a writer revived, and this journey was a call for spiritual awakening. This unbridled his writing career, and he wrote the Pilgrimage – a spiritual journey that revived the center of his dream of becoming a writer.
In 1988, he published “The Alchemist” – a metaphorical adaptation of his personal spiritual journey during the pilgrimage. Although only 900 copies of “The Alchemist” were published in Brazil, and the publisher refused to publish further editions, shortly “The Alchemist” became an international bestseller and one of the most sold Brazilian books in history.

With his distinctive style and storytelling mastery, he became the legendary literary figure who engrosses and mesmerizes his readers with an unbelievable reality and intense realization of the self to “know thyself”. He further rippled his creativity in his other novels, and he continues to write consistently for his readers. His later works are Brida (1990), The Valkyries (As Valkírias, 1992), By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept (Na margem do rio Piedra eu sentei e chorei, 1994), The Fifth Mountain (O Monte Cinco, 1996), Manual of a Warrior of Light (O Manual do Guerreiro da Luz, 1997), Veronika decides to die (Veronika decide morrer, 1998), The Devil and Miss Prym, (O demônio e a Srta. Prym, 2000), Eleven Minutes (Onze Minutos, 2003), The Zahir (O Zahir, 2005), The Witch of Portobello (A Bruxa de Portobello, 2006), and, most recently, The Winner Stands Alone (O Vencedor Está Só, 2008.

As a proponent of self-belief to gear up success, Coelho’s success philosophy shows that self-belief and genuine desires can become reality with actions, and the universe will always propel them to achieve success.
Being a spirited writer of high moral and ethical values, Coelho is an outspoken advocate of social injustice and discrimination.

Alongside his writing career, he helps as a Goodwill Messenger of Peace for the UN, a UNESCO Special Counselor for “Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences,” an Ambassador to the European Union for Intercultural Dialogue, a Member of the Board of the Shimon Peres Institute for Peace, and a Board Member of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Moreover, he actively encourages and supports the free distribution of his literary works.
Along with his beloved wife Christina, he resides in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, France, and Sweden.
Coelho is famous for his complex symbolism with intricate details and charismatic journey of his characters in a soul-searching quest and self-discovery. His rich narrative refers to ancient legendary ethos and myths that evoke a life-changing and heart-dropping experience of love, self-exploration, and threads of thoughts that lead to human origin and rediscover the changing future of humanity for the rebirth and resurrection of the spirit and truth.

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Spoiler-Free Summary of the Book:

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

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Veronika Decides to Die

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The Devil and Miss Prym

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Opinion about the Series

Paulo Coelho is the recipient of 115 international prizes and awards for his highly influential thirty international bestselling novels. While “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness” portrays the unfulfilling life and love of two young lovers, the “Veronika Decides to Die: A Novel of Redemption” depicts a tale of a woman who has all the benefits of life, yet she is so unhappy that her madness turns into fury, leading her to take pills to end her life. However, when death truly approaches Veronika, she understands the true value of life and the importance of every moment. Meanwhile, “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness” illustrates the voidness and existential crisis of the young lovers, highlighting societal pressure to hide and bury feelings, living without their most desired love, and ignoring self-knowledge, accepting the pretending mirror of society. Finally, “The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation” showcases how self-knowledge is buried, diminishing human’s ability to distinguish between good and evil. The entire community is tainted with greed and tempted to be vicious to attain hedonistic pleasures. This is a heuristic journey of the self to unbridle from self-deception and free the human self for the true worth of humanity.

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Apart from And On the Seventh Day, Paulo Coelho’s other notable works include:

• The Pilgrimage (1987)
• The Valkyries (1988)
• The Alchemist (1988)
• Brida (1990)
• The Fifth Mountain (1996)
• Eleven Minutes (2003)
• The Zahir (2005)
• The Witch of Portobello (2006)
• The Winner Stands Alone (2008)
• Manuscript Found in Accra (2012)
• Adultery (2014)
• The Spy (2016)
• Hippie (2018)
• The Archer (2020)

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Books Similar to And On the Seventh Day

If you loved reading And On the Seventh Day Series, you should look into the following books:

1. “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
2. “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
3. “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert
4. “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern
5. “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak
6. “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
7. “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
8. “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger

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