Helena was the first novel at 6 o'clock p.m. in Brazil. This is a great romance by Machado de Assis, a Romantic and Realist author who lived in the nineteenth century, in Rio de Janeiro. The story is about a girl who lived in an orphan house and suddenly she moves to a farm, to live with her half-brother and his family. That is why the testament says the girl was his daughter. So there are so many mysteries around the girl and she has difficulties to be accepted. The girl was interpreted by a great Brazilian actress called Lucia Alves. When things were good, Helena discovered that Estácio (Osmar Prado), her half-brother was falling in love with her. The incest was the theme and Helena loved Estácio too. At the end of the story we can see they're not brother and sister but it is too late. It ends with the death of Helena, who was very ill. Other good point to see is that Helena was a great abolitionist girl. She talked and respected the slaves as they were her relatives.
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