Fado Alexandrino
 Part One: Before the Revolution The five characters have gathered at a restaurant and are recounting their lives ten years after their return home from Mozambique in 1970. The Soldier, named Abílio, got a job moving furniture for his uncle Ilídio’s company. Ilídio had remarried to a woman named Dona Isaura who had a stepdaughter named Odete. The Soldier lived with them and was intrigued by Odete. To gain money to take Odete out, the Soldier started accepting money for sex from a 60-year-old man, a painter. The Lieutenant Colonel, named Artur, went to seek his wife at a cancer institute only to discover that she had died just before his return. His memories were haunted by an African man he shot. He joined a military regiment and was promoted to the rank of commander. As members of the military conspired to overthrow the government, the Captain, named Mendes, came to the Lieutenant Colonel to try to convince him to join the uprising, but he does not have his troops participate in the revolt. The Communications Officer, named Celestino, returned to his godmother and a woman named Esmeralda. He joined a Marxist group working to overthrow the government. His contact Olavo got him a job in a ministry so he could infiltrate the government and sway others to his cause. He was put in contact with a young attractive female operative code-named Dália. He was then arrested and brutally tortured by the PIDE. The Second Lieutenant, named Jorge, reunited with his wife Inês, who came from an upper-class background. He recalls bargaining to buy a young girl in Mozambique who has one miscarriage and one successful birth. He also recalls the difficult courtship with Inês due to the difference in social class. Just before the uprising, the Second Lieutenant had an affair with a woman named Ilda, who got pregnant. He never sees her again after fleeing the country. In the present time, the five have had quite a bit to drink and make plans to move on to another venue. Part Two: The Revolution The 1974 Carnation Revolution provides the backdrop for the events of this part, recounted while the five characters are at a cabaret/brothel. The Soldier witnessed the attack on the PIDE headquarters. He continues to court Odete even as he provided sex for money to the old painter and others. He finally managed to woo Odete and marry her, though Odete was repulsed by what she saw as the Soldier’s lack of breeding. Odete left him, and it turns out she was the same woman as Dália, the resistance agent the Communications Officer was enamored with, a revelation hinted at when the Soldier found communist propaganda among Odete’s things. The Lieutenant Colonel was captured and taken to Captain Mendes. As he remained cautious about supporting either the insurrection or the government, he was ejected from the regiment and Captain Mendes was promoted to colonel. He became involved with a woman named Edite, known as the “cloud of perfume.” His first sexual experience with her is marred by impotence, but he later marries her. The Communications Officer languished in prison as the Revolution occurred. When the prison was liberated he rejoined Dália and the resistance cell. They plan a robbery, which goes awry when the car crashes. Dália informed him of a new plot to dress up like ambassadors and kidnap the president; this plan also failed. The Revolution brought panic to Inês’s family due to their upper class status, so the Second Lieutenant had to go to their home in Carcavelos to comfort them. He discovered Inês having sex with Ilka, a friend of her mother’s. The Second Lieutenant fled to São Paulo, Brazil with Inês’s family. In the present, the five plot to take prostitutes back to the Second Lieutenant’s residence. Part Three: After the Revolution The Soldier and his uncle Ilídio lived alone together after Dona Isaura died and Odete departed to live with Olavo from the organization. The Soldier took over the moving company and had an affair with a concierge. The Lieutenant Colonel married Edite and was promoted to general and director of a military academy. He started seeing a young salesgirl, Lucília, but was blackmailed by her mother into setting her up in an apartment. He found Lucília cheating on him and cut her off. He also found out that while he was occupied with Lucília Edite had been cheating on him. The Second Lieutenant divorced Inês, who got custody of their daughter Mariana. He returned from Brazil to Lisbon and took up with a midget. In the present time, the narratives reveal that the Communications Officer is the one who had an affair with Edite. Talk of killing him emerges among the drunken men. The Soldier suddenly stabs the Communications Officer in the back with a knife. He defends himself and claims it was an accident, but it is implied that he killed the man over Odete. The prostitutes begin complaining about the dead body and all have to decide what to do with the corpse. Chapter 11 of Part Three breaks with the novel’s structure. The chapter should advance the Communication Officer’s story, but he is already dead at this point. Instead, we get a first-person narrative from an unnamed female character. She recounts how her father was murdered when she was young. Her mother remarried a man who raped her before she was sent to Lisbon to work as a maid. After the husband of the house died, the woman brought home a boy that the two raised together. The boy grew up to be the Communications Officer, the lady of the house is his godmother, and the woman telling the story is Esmeralda. The novel wraps up with the group breaking ranks. The police find the body of the Communications Officer, pick up the prostitutes for questioning, and are on the trail of the soldiers.