
A young woman, raised in a modest Portuguese village, carries with her a single, withered flower—a quiet emblem of a love that once seemed impossible. As she moves to the bustling streets of Lisbon, the fragile blossom becomes a reminder of promises made and forgotten, guiding her through the intricate world of family expectations, social ambition, and lingering grief. The narrative weaves her inner reflections with vivid portraits of the city’s cafés, markets, and moonlit riverbanks, creating a backdrop that feels both intimate and expansive.
When an unexpected encounter with a charismatic yet troubled artist reignites the memory of that dried bloom, the protagonist must decide whether to cling to the safety of the familiar or to chase a passion that could shatter her carefully ordered life. Themes of memory, sacrifice, and the resilience of the human heart unfold gently, offering listeners a tender exploration of love’s lingering scent amid the inevitable passage of time.
Language
pt
Duration
~4 hours (284K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
Portugal: Parceira Antonio Maria Pereira, 1904.
Credits
The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2022-11-15
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1842–1895
A prolific 19th-century Portuguese writer, journalist, and public figure, he moved easily between fiction, theater, criticism, and politics. His career captured the lively literary culture of Lisbon, even as later generations remembered him in part through his famous disputes with Eça de Queirós.
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