16 h 13 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a priest’s desire threatens his vows, but his authority helps shelter him from the consequences?
Father Amaro arrives in Leiria to serve as a priest, though others have chosen his calling for him. In São Joaneira’s home, he meets her daughter, Amélia, a devout young woman deeply impressed by priests. His attraction puts his vows against his desires—and draws him toward someone already engaged.
Amélia’s fiancé, João Eduardo, resents the clergy’s influence. As rivalry and forbidden intimacy grow, visits and religious duties become tools for secrecy. In The Crime of Father Amaro, Eça de Queirós looks beyond the lovers to the meals, gossip, and bargains that protect respectable men while leaving women to bear the costs.
What you’ll discover
- Authority without moral courage Follow Amaro as desire and fear of scandal expose the weakness beneath his office.
- Trust that creates vulnerability Meet Amélia, whose devotion makes a priest’s attention especially powerful and difficult to question.
- A town guarding appearances Watch meals, gossip, and small bargains keep Leiria’s outward piety intact as secrets grow.
- The comfort of compromise See how Canon Dias’s easy compromises help Amaro find excuses for his own conduct.
- Desire with unequal costs Consider who receives protection when respectability matters more than the harm hidden beneath it.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy a big, lively cast, a provincial town seen with a satirical eye, and a love story that is also a portrait of faith, gossip, church politics and everyday habit.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A town finds the priest a room
- Amaro arrives and is made at home
- A boy raised to be a priest
- The household, the card table and Amélia
- A dinner, a quarrel and a kiss at the farm
- He leaves the house and cannot stay away
- The letter in the newspaper
- Revenge, a fist and a fire
- What the book is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Amaro VieiraA soft, handsome young priest raised by a marchioness for the Church. He wants comfort and love, and he lets others make his choices.
- AméliaSão Joanneira's daughter, a pretty, devout girl who sings at the piano. She wants real love and fears heaven's anger at the same time.
- Canon DiasAmaro's old teacher, a stout, greedy cathedral canon who lives off good dinners and keeps a long friendship with São Joanneira.
- São JoanneiraAugusta Caminha, a placid widow who keeps boarders on Misericórdia Street and wants her daughter well married and her priests well fed.
- João EduardoA clerk and Amélia's suitor, a sincere, jealous young man who dislikes priests and wants a quiet home and a wife.
- Father NatárioThe Ferret, a bitter, clever priest who loves argument, plots against his enemies and speaks warmly of his two nieces.
- Dona Josepha DiasThe canon's sister, called Dried Chestnut, a pious, sharp-tongued woman who runs gossip in Leiria and enjoys scandal.
- LibaninhoA plump, gushing devotee who runs between churches and the barracks, teasing everyone and begging for blessings.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 16 h 13 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear El crimen del padre Amaro in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
El crimen del padre Amaro
by Eça de Queirós · 1875
A young priest moves into a boardinghouse in Leiria, and a pretty girl down the hall begins to fill his thoughts.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
The Crime of Father Amaro is a novel by the Portuguese writer Eça de Queirós, who died in 1900. It is set in Leiria, a small cathedral town, and follows a young parish priest who arrives with good manners, a handsome face and no real calling.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A town finds the priest a room
The novel opens at Easter, when the heavy parish priest José Migueis dies of a stroke after a fish supper. Hardly anyone mourns him. His fat little dog Joli wanders the streets looking for an owner and is finally found dead beside the Misericórdia. That small, sad scene sets the tone for the town, where nobody is quite kind and nobody is quite cruel.
Two months later word comes that a new priest has been appointed. He is young, fresh from the seminary, and his name is Amaro Vieira. The opposition paper, The Voice of the District, grumbles about favoritism, and the governor of the diocese, the cantor, jokes that after Friar Hercules they may now get Friar Apollo. Only Canon Dias knows him, because he once taught him moral theology.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about El crimen del padre Amaro
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Crime of Father Amaro about?
It follows a young priest named Amaro who is appointed to Leiria and lodges with the Caminha family. He falls in love with the daughter, Amélia, and the novel traces how the town's gossip, church politics and newspaper attacks shape what follows.
Who is Canon Dias?
He is Amaro's former teacher and the cathedral canon who finds him lodgings. He loves good food, supports the Caminha household with money and is the long-time friend of São Joanneira, which makes him partly responsible for the house where the story unfolds.
Is The Crime of Father Amaro a true story?
No, it is a novel. Eça de Queirós invented the characters, but he drew on real habits of small Portuguese towns, their church customs, newspapers and politics. He wrote it in the late 1870s, and it is set in nineteenth-century Leiria.
The author
Eça de Queirós
1845–1900 · Portuguese novelist
Eça de Queirós was a Portuguese writer and diplomat, born in Póvoa de Varzim in 1845. He wrote The Crime of Father Amaro (1875), Cousin Bazilio (1878), and The Maias (1888). His diplomatic work took him to Cuba, Britain, and France. He died in Paris in 1900.
More by Eça de Queirós
All 7 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
