Lettres Portugaises

The letters are presented as if they were authentic correspondence from a real nun, Mariana Alcoforado, to a French officer. However, scholarly consensus generally attributes their authorship to Gabriel de Guilleragues, suggesting they are a work of fiction crafted to appear genuine.

This work is considered a foundational text in the epistolary novel genre and is highly influential in French literature. It is often studied for its psychological depth and its exploration of female desire and abandonment in the 17th century.