Simão Botelho was a young man from Viseu - Portugal with a confrontational and problematic character. One day he falls madly in love and maintains a secret romance with Teresa de Albuquerque, the daughter of an enemy of his father, radically changing his attitude. After getting acknowledgement of the romance, Tadeu de Albuquerque promises his daughter's hand to his nephew Baltazar Coutinho. Refusing flatly, Teresa is sent to a convent, where she remains cloistered. Simão returns from Coimbra, where he was to complete his studies, and settles in the house of João da Cruz. His daughter Mariana falls in love immediately with Simão. In a failed attempt to meet with Teresa in the convent, Simon ends up killing his rival Baltazar and is sentenced to prison. The love triangle develops through the correspondence between Simão and Teresa and the daily visits of Mariana. Simão is condemned to the exile in India and on the day of his departure, this complicated novel ends in the most tragic way. Based on the true story of an uncle of the author Camilo Castelo Branco, this is his most famous novel.
