24 h 44 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 24 h 44 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a grand Lisbon house, a family's hopes rest on a young man who has everything except a purpose.
The Maias follows a wealthy Portuguese family across three generations. At the Ramalhete, their grand old Lisbon home, Afonso da Maia places his hopes in his grandson Carlos. Handsome, gifted, and trained in medicine, Carlos has every advantage. Yet his fine consulting room and laboratory cannot give his life direction.
Around Carlos, Lisbon society gathers for dinners, horse races, gossip, and quarrels. His witty friend João da Ega dreams of writing a grand book, while others chase fashion and connections. Then Maria Eduarda enters Carlos's world, and love gives his drifting days a purpose. Beneath the polished rooms and lively talk, something feels wrong.
What you’ll discover
- Three generations of hope Follow Afonso, Pedro, and Carlos through a family story shaped by upbringing, passion, and expectation.
- A house full of promise Enter the Ramalhete, where renewed grandeur surrounds an old man's hopes for his grandson.
- Lisbon beneath the polish See vanity and imitation exposed through sharp portraits of fashionable, restless society.
- Love interrupts a drifting life Meet Maria Eduarda, whose arrival draws Carlos away from his comfortable lack of purpose.
- Rooms, clothes, and gestures Enjoy Eça de Queirós's close attention to ordinary details and his sharp, amused eye.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love big family sagas, sharp social comedy and love stories with real weight. It suits anyone curious about nineteenth century Lisbon.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A family home holds a warning
- Pedro chooses love over his father
- Loss brings Carlos to his grandfather
- Afonso raises Carlos for freedom
- Carlos has talent without direction
- A passing glance becomes a purpose
- Family patterns return through love
- Irony gives the family story depth
- Choice meets the pressure of inheritance
Who’s who
- Carlos da MaiaA rich, handsome young doctor with many plans and little discipline, who falls deeply in love with a woman he meets in Lisbon.
- Afonso da MaiaCarlos's grandfather, a gentle old patriarch who loves books, water and the English way of life, and who dreads another family scandal.
- João da EgaCarlos's witty, theatrical friend from Coimbra, who wants to write a great book and shock Lisbon society.
- Maria EduardaA beautiful, graceful woman with a little daughter, whose calm manner hides a past she hesitates to share.
- Pedro da MaiaAfonso's nervous, passionate son, who defies his father to marry a woman Lisbon whispers about.
- Maria MonforteA dazzling society beauty, daughter of a rumoured slave trader, who wants luxury, admiration and a place in Lisbon.
- AlencarAn ageing Romantic poet with a proud white mane, loyal to the Maias and full of grand feeling.
- Dâmaso SalcedeA plump, vain young man who admires Carlos, copies his tastes and says everything is chic.
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- Large print hardcover
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The Maias in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Maias
by Eça de Queirós · 1888
Carlos da Maia, a rich young doctor in Lisbon, falls for a woman whose past hides a secret.
Challenging10–20 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What happens to a family that tries to start over in a house said to bring bad luck? In the autumn of 1875, old Afonso da Maia moves into a gloomy Lisbon mansion called the Ramalhete, so that his grandson Carlos can begin a brilliant career as a doctor.
The Maias at a glance
- Reading time
- About 15 h 55 min12 h 35 min fast, 18 h 55 min slow
- Length
- 226,800 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1888by Eça de Queirós
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A gloomy house waits for a new Maia
The story opens in the autumn of 1875 at a mansion in Lisbon known as the Ramalhete. It has narrow iron balconies and a gloomy look that suggests a Jesuit college. For years it stands empty.
Afonso da Maia, an old man who has lived for decades on the Douro river, decides to move in with his grandson Carlos. He wants to live under a roof that has always belonged to his family. Their agent Villaça mentions a legend that the walls bring misfortune to the Maias. Afonso laughs and says they should throw open the windows and let the sun in.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1888
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Queirós, Eça de. The Maias. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-maias.
Queirós, E. de. (2026). The Maias. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-maias (Original work published 1888)
Queirós, Eça de. The Maias. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-maias.
@book{queiros2026maias,
author = {Queirós, Eça de},
title = {The Maias},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-maias},
note = {First published 1888}
}
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What is The Maias about?
It follows three generations of a wealthy Lisbon family, from old Afonso to his son Pedro and his grandson Carlos. It mixes a love story, family secrets and a witty picture of Portuguese society in the 1870s.
When was The Maias written and is it a true story?
Eça de Queirós published it in 1888. The family and plot are invented, but the book describes real Lisbon places and the habits of its society, from the opera to the races, with careful detail.
Who is João da Ega?
Ega is Carlos's close friend from Coimbra, a witty, theatrical young man who dreams of writing a great book. He brings humour to the story and shows the gap between big talk and action.
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
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