Title: O crime do Padre Amaro
First published: 1962
Description: "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.
Subjects: Drama, Sunday school teachers, Man-woman relationships, Temptation, Priests, Fiction, Fiction, romance, general, Catholic Church, Clergy, Fiction, religious, Catholic church, clergy, fiction, Iglesia Católica, Clero, Ficción, Priester, Weltoffenheit, Portugiesisch, Roman, Katholische Kirche, Film adaptations, Social life and customs, Manners and customs, Portugal, fiction
Places: Portugal, Leiria