Novel
Lúcio's Confession
A Confissão de Lúcio
Mário de Sá-Carneiro · 1914
Synopsis
Lúcio Vaz leaves prison after ten years, convicted of a murder he claims not to have committed, and warns that he will tell everything, even what cannot be believed. He goes back to the Paris years, to an evening at a wealthy American woman's house where he met the poet Ricardo de Loureiro. Back in Lisbon, Ricardo, who was thought to be a bachelor, appears there with a wife, Marta, who soon becomes Lúcio's mistress; but Lúcio suspects her of sharing her favours with other friends of Ricardo.
Context
Written in Lisbon between June and November 1913, subtitled “narrativa”, the narrative was published at the author's own expense in 1914. It transposes into the artistic circles of Paris and Lisbon an enigmatic ménage à trois with a strong homoerotic subtext, in which eroticism, dreamlike writing and the fantastic serve the theme of doubling that runs through the work. It was translated into English by Margaret Jull Costa in 1993, with Dedalus, and into French by Dominique Touati, with the éditions de la Différence.
Who it is for
A short novel, about a hundred pages in translation; part of the plot remains deliberately enigmatic.
Prizes and reception
One of its author's best-known works, and the first of his narratives to be translated into English.
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