O esqueleto: Romance

by Camilo Castelo Branco

"O esqueleto: Romance" by Camilo Castelo Branco is a romantic novel published in 1865 that explores adultery and love between people of vastly different ages. Forty-year-old Nicolau abandons his French lover Margarida to marry his sixteen-year-old cousin Beatriz. As their marriage crumbles, both spouses pursue secret affairs—Nicolau returns to Margarida while Beatriz meets with young Rafael. When Beatriz's father discovers the betrayal, he begins strict surveillance, setting tragic events into motion that will only be fully revealed years later.