Machado de Assis

Dom Casmurro Machado de Assis

Taciturn and solitary, Bento Santiago - nicknamed Dom Casmurro - lives in a perfect replica of his childhood home in Rio de Janeiro. He spends his days reading and dozing, and is planning to write a History of the Suburbs. But it wasn't always this way - once upon a time he was a happy husband and father.

In a narrative full of twists, turns, sly winks at the reader and revelations that change our understanding of what came before, he tells the story of his life so far. Promised to the priesthood at birth, Bento realises at fifteen that he cannot fulfil his mother's wishes: he is deeply in love with Capitú, the girl next door. Their passionate attachment sweeps opposition out of the way, and eventually they are married and, later, blessed with a son.

Bento's life is perfect - until the day he begins to suspect that Capitú has betrayed him with his best friend. Was her love a lie? Is his son really his own? And if he dismantles his entire life, will jealousy give way to regret?For a century and a half, readers have argued over the truth at the heart of this story, and delighted in its witty ambivalence, formal inventiveness, and heartbreakingly doomed romance.