her money towards housekeeping. Canon Dias – He was Father Amaro's religious teacher during the seminary, is the lover of Joanneira, and also the owner of a large number of rented properties. Abbot Ferrão – The only likable priest in the whole story, who represents a new form of Christian love and whose voice is said to be synonymous with that of Eça. He comforts Amélia while she is pregnant and opens the way to her redemption, although Amaro's power over her proves to be too great. He is fond of hunting. Doctor Gouveia – The family doctor, a liberal. Dionisia – A procuress and midwife who helps Father Amaro arrange the affair. Father Natário – A dogmatic priest who finds out that João Eduardo is responsible for the infamous article. He is rumored to have had an affair with his two nieces. Father Brito – A priest who is removed to a distant mountain parish after the article makes his affair with a noble lady known. Uncle Esguelhas – The church bell-ringer. In his house, Father Amaro and Amélia can secretly meet under the guise of teaching his invalid daughter, Totó, to read. Doctor Godinho – A prominent liberal lawyer in Leiria. Reviews Writing in the Washington Post, Michael Dirda describes O Crime do Padre Amaro as a "terrific novel". Noting that the work is often compared with Émile Zola's La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret, Dirda argues that "Eça's relentless and unforgiving satire is far more sweeping than Zola's often soft-focused pastoral". He adds that the novel employs every sort of comedy and that Eça is a writer "who understands sex". Translations Dutch author J. Slauerhoff translated the work into Dutch in 1932 under the title De misdaad van pater Amaro. An English translation by Nan Flanagan appeared in 1962 under the title The Sin of Father Amaro. The novel has also been translated as The Crime of Father Amaro, published in the UK in 2003 by Dedalus Books in a new version by Margaret Jull Costa. Film and TV adaptations In 2002, Carlos Carrera directed a Spanish-language version of O Crime do Padre Amaro (El crimen del padre Amaro) in Mexico. It starred Gael García Bernal as Father Amaro and was greeted with public outrage in Mexico, where Christian groups called for it to be banned. In 2002, it was one of the Best Foreign Language Film Nominees