A Sibila

work by Bessa Luís

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July 13, 2026

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A Sibila is a 1954 novel by Portuguese writer Agustina Bessa-Luís. The novel is noted for its departure from the neorealistic regionalism common in Portuguese literature at the time, incorporating elements of surrealism. In A Sibila, the lines between physical, psychological, and ironic reality are blurred, giving characters a mythic quality. The narrative plays with notions of time and space, allowing different planes of reality to merge and creating a less logical sequence of events. The prose has been described as "metaphysical" and "ultra-psychological," with influences from authors like Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka evident in the fictional worlds Bessa-Luís created. The title itself refers to the Sibyl, a prophetess from Greek legend known for her ecstatic prophecies.12

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Agustina Bessa-Luís
…of Bessa-Luís’s early novels is A Sibila (1954; “The Sibyl”), which won the Eça de Queirós prize and in which the boundary between physical, psychological, and ironic reality is tenuous and the characters gain an almost mythic quality. In Bessa-Luís’s fiction, notions of time and space become vague, and planes…
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…of Bessa-Luís’s early novels is A Sibila (1954; “The Sibyl”), which won the Eça de Queirós prize and in which the boundary between physical, psychological, and ironic reality is tenuous and the characters gain an almost mythic quality. In Bessa-Luís’s fiction, notions of time and space become vague, and planes…
Read More

Portuguese literature
After 1974
…after she published the novel A Sibila (1954; “The Sibyl”), continued publishing works through the turn of the 21st century. She extended the psychological insight evident in her drawing of fictional characters to enhance her portraits of historical figures, as in her novel Fanny Owen (1979). Maria Velho da Costa…
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…after she published the novel A Sibila (1954; “The Sibyl”), continued publishing works through the turn of the 21st century. She extended the psychological insight evident in her drawing of fictional characters to enhance her portraits of historical figures, as in her novel Fanny Owen (1979). Maria Velho da Costa…
Read More