Os Maias is Queirós' criticism of Portugal's decline in the later 1800s. Carlos de Maia returns from medical school to Lisbon to live with his grandfather in the restored mansion, o Ramalhete. In developing his medical practice, Carlos meets and begins an affair with Maria Eduarda, a beautiful young lady he initially believes to be Brazilian. Around the lovers, the city, the Monarchy and many of those they know are in decay. Then Carlos' friend Ega, a writer, discovers that Maria Eduarda is, in fact, Carlos' sister. But despite the revelation, Carlos continues the affair, until his grandfather discovers it and dies.

About the Author

José Maria Eça de Queirós was born November 25, 1845, the illegitimate son of a judge and a provincial girl. While his parents married when he was four, Queirós wasn't acknowledged as their son until he married, at age 40. In 1861, he enrolled in the University of Coimbra, studying law, where he met Antero de Quental and Teófilo Braga and read the French authors popular among the educated youth of Portugal. He was also influenced by the positivist ideas he saw in Coimbra. After graduation in 1866, Eça tried to practice law in Lisbon, but soon became disillusioned. Instead he founded the newspaper O Distrito de Évora. In 1869, he traveled to Egypt and Palestine for the inauguration of the Suez Canal. His impressions became the text of O Egipto and provided the environment for the novel, A Relíquia. His literary career began the following year with a series of pamphlets that he wrote with Ramalho Ortigão, O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra. They collaborated again the following year, creating the political and social critique As Farpas. Eça de Queirós' texts from this collaboration were later published as the book, Uma Campanha Alegre. While administrator of the Council of Leiria for a brief time, Eça gained insight into the devout provincial environment that he later used in O Crime do Padre Amaro. Returning to Lisbon the next year, Eça joined Antero de Quental and others to form the group Cenáculo, from which sprang the 'Casino Conferences.' At one conferences, in 1877, Eça outlined a series of novels, Cenas Portuguesas, that would provide a critical analysis of Portuguese society in his time. Eventually, many of his novels came from the idea: O Crime do Padre Amaro, O Primo Basílio, A Capital, Os Maias, O Conde de Abranhos and Alves e Cia. In 1872, Eça started a diplomatic career, which he stayed in the rest of his life. He was named consul in Havana (Cuba was then part of Spain), which allowed him to take a long trip through the U.S. and Canada, during which he wrote the short story, Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura, and the first version of O Crime do Padre Amaro. In December 1874, Eça was transferred to Newcastle, England, where he wrote O Primo Basílio, and later to Bristol, England (1878). In 1886 he married Emília de Castro Pamplona, the sister of the Count of Resende, with whom he had traveled to Egypt. Then, in 1888, he was transferred to Paris, where he stayed for the rest of his life. Eça de Queirós died in Paris, August 16, 1900.