Paulo Coelho de Souza (born 24 August 1947) is the best-selling Brazilian novelist of all time. Beginning his literary career with The Pilgrimage after a spiritual awakening in 1987, Coelho went on to write The Alchemist In 1988, which sold 35 million copies worldwide and became the most translated book in the world by a living author. Writing in philosophical and mystical fiction, most of Coelho’s books focus on love and spirituality, they’re based on his own spiritual experiences and are intended to be inspiring, uplifting and life-changing for the readers. Since the publication of The Alchemist, Coelho has produced a new book at a rate of about one every two years. In all, he has written about 26 books that have collectively sold more than 65 million copies in at least 59 languages. Coelho has been married to his wife, the artist Christina Oiticica, since 1980. Together the couple spends half the year in Rio de Janeiro and the other half in a country house in the Pyrenees Mountains of France.