Who has never “died” of love? Who has never felt desperately in love at the age of 15? Who never dreamed of being Romeo or Juliet, Pedro or Inês? Who was never moved by the story of Teresa, Simão and Mariana? Camilo Castelo Branco says that “poets wear out our patience with all their talk of love”, but is there a more overwhelming experience? There is, of course: death. Love and death are always too close for comfort. The beginning and the end. Between one and the other, all stories in the world exist. Camilo wrote Amor de Perdição [Doomed Love] in 1861, while imprisoned in Porto over a forbidden love affair. “I wrote that novel in fifteen days, the most painful time in my life.” However, the writer is just as skilful at drawing tears as he is at inspiring laughter. Whenever we return to this book, everything is fresh. Just like in the theatre, where nothing happens the same way twice. Welcome to a new Amor de Perdição.