by Jose de Alencar

Jose de Alencar was born in 1829 in Mecejana, Ceara, in northeastern Brazil. Many years later Alencar would recall that one of the inspirations for Iracema, the Honey-Lips was his home state’s natural beauty. Because of his Portuguese-born father’s political interests, the family moved to the southern city of Rio de Janeiro where the father later became part of the Portuguese royal court. Thanks to these political connections, Alencar was brought up surrounded by the comfort of the court. He attended school in São Paulo, then published his first novel, Five Minutes (1856), while working as the editor of a Rio de Janeiro newspaper. The next year he wrote one of his most famous novels, O guaraní (1857). After the death of his father in 1860, Alencar embraced politics as a Conservative and...