Los papeles de Casa Velha

The Papers of Casa Velha, by the great Brazilian writer Machado de Assis, published in installments in 1885 and posthumously as a book (1944), is a small masterpiece of mystery and psychological insight. A priest turned historian infiltrates Casa Velha, the mansion of a deceased former minister. However, his investigation soon shifts from the papers to focus on the forbidden love between the family heir and the angelic daughter of the servants. The plot itself is not as important as the author's method: to delve into the characters' minds and explore their inner workings.