Eça de Queiroz

"The Relic is an irreverent fictional autobiography narrating the picaresque adventures of Teodorico, a Portuguese playboy determined to be the sole heir of his absurdly pious, sexually repressed, and tyrannical Auntie. Sent to the Holy Land, he returns with what he presumes is the "relic of relics" in hopes of persuading Auntie to bequeath her vast fortune to him. While in Jerusalem, Teodorico has a vision in which he witnesses Christ's trial and crucifixion and the founding of Christianity--with a twist."--Google books.

"Born in Paris, Jacinto - the hero of The City and the Mountains - is the heir to a vast estate in the Alentejo in Portugal, which he has never visited. Jacinto lives in a beautiful mansion crammed with books and the latest gadgets. He mixes with the creme de la creme of Paris society, but is monumentally bored. One by one, his gadgets let him down. And then he receives a letter from the estate manager in Portugal: the bones of his ancestors are to be moved to the new chapel - would he like to be there? With great trepidation, Jacinto sets off with his best friend, the narrator, on a mammoth train journey. When they arrive, the huge old house is a wreck, all Jacinto's luggage has been lost, but for the first time in ages he eats a hearty meal and sleeps the sleep of the just on a straw mattress on the floor. Jacinto has the house renovated, sets about improving conditions for his farm workers, and what he discovers in simple country life upends his expectations deliciously."--book jacket.

“Os Maias” conta a história da família Maia. Afonso da Maia tem um filho, chamado Pedro, tímido e nervoso. Pedro conhece Maria Monforte, filha de um negreiro e, contra a vontade de seu pai, casa-se com ela. A bela Maria apaixona-se por um italiano e foge com ele e com a filha, abandonando Pedro e o filho Carlos. Pedro, desgostoso, suicida-se. Carlos cresce criado pelo avô, forma-se em Medicina e parte para uma longa viagem pela Europa. De regresso, Carlos instala-se no Ramalhete, a casa de família, com o seu avô. Juntamente com o seu grande amigo João da Ega levam uma vida de ócio na sociedade Lisboeta, vivendo histórias repletas de festas e amantes. Surge então em Lisboa uma bela mulher, casada com um rico Brasileiro, por quem Carlos se apaixona e se envolve numa louca paixão. A história desenvolve-se de uma forma surpreendente, repleta de situações de mentira e conduta imoral, até revelar uma terrível relação incestuosa. Escrito pelo genial Eça de Queirós, é uma das mais importantes obras da literatura portuguesa.

"Young, virile Father Amaro (whose name means "bitter" in Portuguese) arrives in Leira and is taken in as a lodger by Sao Joaneira. Her budding, devout, dewy-lipped daughter Amelia is soon lusted after by the young priest. What ensues is a secret love affair amidst a host of compelling minor characters: Canon Dias, a priest, glutton, and Sao Joaneira's lover; Dona Maria da Assuncao, a wealthy widow with a roomful of religious relics, agog at any hint of sex; Joao Eduardo, repressed atheist, free-thinker, and suitor to Amelia. Eca's incisive critique flies like a shattering mirror, jabbing everything from the hypocrisy of a rich and powerful Church, to the provincialism of Portuguese society of the time. Haunting, The Crime of Father Amaro is the ghost of a forgotten religion of tolerance, wisdom, and equality. Margaret Jull Costa has rendered an exquisite translation and provides an informative introduction to a story that truly spans all ages." "The Crime of Father Amaro inspired a series of magnificent paintings by the Portuguese artist Paula Rego, one of which graces the cover of this edition. The novel was also made into a controversial film, El Crimen del Padre Amaro by Mexican director Carlos Carrera in 2002"--Jacket.

"A bright, witty excursion through the fictional letters of a turn-of-the-century dandy who hilariously edifies, entertains, infuriates, and endears"--P. of cover.

O Primo Basílio ("Cousin Bazilio") is one of the most highly regarded realist novels of the Portuguese author José Maria de Eça de Queiroz. He worked in the Portuguese consular service in Newcastle upon Tyne from late 1874 until April 1879. The novel was written during this productive period in his career, appearing in 1878. A bowdlerized translation of this book by Mary Jane Serrano under the title Dragon's Teeth: A Novel was published in the United States in 1889. More accurate translations have since been published, first in 1953 by the poet Roy Campbell and then in 2003 by award-winning translator Margaret Jull Costa.

"One night at the theatre, Vitor da Silva, a young law graduate, sees a strikingly beautiful woman: Genoveva de Molineux. She claims to have been born in Madeira and to have lived for many years in Paris. The truth about her past gradually begins to surface, as does the terrible secret that lies behind the overwhelming mutual attraction between her and Vitor"--Back cover.

Artur Corvelo inherits a legacy, quits his provincial home town and sets out for the capital. Armed hopefully with some poems and a heroic play, he seeks literary renown and entry into fashionable intellectual and social circles. Disillusion follows and he returns to his origins, his play unperformed, poorer certainly, wiser perhaps. As so often with Eca de Queiros, the plot is simple; the fascination of the novel lies in the characters, the incidents and, above all, the warm humanity and mordant wit of this acute observer of the human condition.

An allegory and a fantasy set in fifteenth century Segovia, Spain, a novella about a forbidden love, insane jealousy, treachery, betrayal and an ambush that went wrong; also about piety, devotion, mercy and grace. A charming tale of love and the supernatural, not to be missed, if only for the elegance of structure and style