Os Fidalgos da Casa Mourisca (Portuguese Edition) - Softcover

Dinis, Júlio

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0850515319 ISBN 13: 9780850515312

Publisher: Luso-Brazilian Books, 2009

Synopsis

Inspired by English novels like Jane Eyre, Os Fidalgos da Casa Mourisca is Dinis' praise of provincial life after the reforms of Portugal's liberal monarchy in the middle of the 19th century. Worried about the decline of his family's fortunes, Jorge plans with his brother, Maurice, to maintain their standing by making the family estate productive again, relying heavily on the assistance of their former servant and successful farmer Tomé da Póvoa. But Jorge's plans are complicated when his father, Don Luiz, learns of and is mortified by the assistance of a former servant. Worse still, Don Luiz learns that Jorge is in love with Tomé's daughter.

About this title

About the Author

Joaquim Guilherme Gomes Coelho, best known as his pseudonym, Júlio Dinis, was a native of Porto, Portugal, born 14 November 1839 to a Portuguese father and an English mother, Ana Constance Potter. His mother died in 1844 from tuberculosis. In 1855, Dinis matriculated in the Escola Médico-Cirúrgica do Porto (Medical-Surgical School of Porto). That same year two of his siblings also died from tuberculosis, and the fol- lowing year, Dinis himself showed the first symptoms of the disease, which would eventually take his life. While fighting off the initial stages of the disease, Dinis began publishing his first works, starting with dramatic works in 1856, and short stories in 1858, the latter included with other short stories in the voloume Serőes da Província (Provincial Soirées). By 1860 he began writing under his famous pseudonym, collaborating first in some newspapers, publishing poetry, and, in 1862, publishing short stories in the Jornal do Porto. Dinis completed his medical degree in 1860 and tried to obtain a position teaching at the same school in 1863, but the progress of tuberculosis forced him to desist from the idea. Seeking relief, he first went to the costal town of Ovar in 1863, where he wrote the first drafts of As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor (The Pupils of the Dean) and A Morgadinha das Canaviais (Little Cane Plantation Heiress). He had already begun writing Uma Familia de Ingleses (the initial title of Uma Familia Inglesa — An English Family) as early as 1858. His collaboration with the Jornal do Porto led to the publication of his novels in serial: As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor in 1866, Uma Familia de Ingleses in 1867 and A Morgadinha das Canaviais in 1868. They were then published in book form immediately thereafter. Still seeking relief from tuberculosis, in 1869 Dinis moved to the island of Madeira, where he began working on Os Fidalgos da Casa Mourisca (The Nobles of Mourisca House). With the novel complete, Dinis returned to Porto to correct the proofs in 1871 and was in the middle of those corrections when he succumbed to tuberculosis on 12 September 1871.

About this edition

• Publisher: Luso-Brazilian Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0850515319
• ISBN 13: 9780850515312
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 348