Elza Cataldo

Zezé is an 8 year old boy who, although a naughty boy, has a good heart. He leads a very modest life, due to the fact that his father has been unemployed for a long time, and has the habit of having long conversations with a sweet orange tree which is in his backyard. Until one day he meets Portuga, a man who begins to help him and soon becomes his best friend.

Raised as Catholics by the Queen of Portugal, the orphans Leonor, Brites, and Mécia are sent to the Brazilian colony with the order to get married. The harsh adaptation to the precariousness of the New World is felt differently by each of them.

Abandoned to the convent as a baby, Joaquina is about to take her vows as a nun when she learns the truth about her parentage – that her mother still lives, and her father was real-life revolutionary icon Tiradentes, who fought and died for Brazilian independence.