Dragon's Teeth

In Lisbon's polished drawing rooms and cramped servant quarters, Eça de Queirós exposes a marriage built on tenderness, habit, and illusion. Jorge, a practical mining engineer, treasures the orderly home he shares with Luiza, whose romantic restlessness is stirred by sentimental novels, old memories, and the unexpected return of her worldly cousin Bazilio. Their quiet domesticity is shadowed by jealousy, social scrutiny, and the fragile performance of respectability. As Luiza drifts back through a first love begun in Cintra and ended in disappointment, the novel traces how longing survives beneath comfort and convention. Friends and servants sharpen the tension: Leopoldina brings gossip and vanity, Sebastião works to protect Luiza's reputation, and Juliana's sour vigilance darkens the household from within. Around them, Eça's sharp wit turns neighborhood charity, illness, and innocence into satire, revealing a society where appearances matter as much as feeling. When secret errands and hidden desires begin to converge, the calm surface of domestic life starts to crack. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.