The Romance of a Wealthy Man

A lost masterpiece of Portuguese Romanticism, now available in English.

Written in 1861 by Camilo Castelo Branco, one of Portugal's greatest nineteenth-century novelists, The Romance of a Wealthy Man is a powerful story of love, injustice, repentance, and spiritual endurance.

Maria da Glória, falsely accused and separated from her husband and child, spends eleven years in the Convent of Vairão, learning the hard virtue of patience. Her son Álvaro grows into manhood under the shadow of that injustice, torn between filial devotion, wounded love, and the moral demands of charity. Around them moves Leonor, brilliant, proud, restless, and tragic - a woman whose passions lead her through ruin, suffering, and the possibility of redemption.

Composed during Camilo's imprisonment in Oporto, the novel bears the marks of confinement, religious meditation, and emotional intensity. Less widely known than Love of Perdition, yet deeply cherished by the author himself, The Romance of a Wealthy Man reveals Camilo at his most compassionate and reflective.

This edition includes a translator's preface, historical and editorial notes, notes on the translation, and an afterword placing the novel within Camilo's life and literary legacy.

A moving classic for readers of nineteenth-century fiction, Catholic literature, tragic romance, and European literary rediscoveries.