The period of great social and behavioral changes in São Paulo society serves as a backdrop for the novel and, sometimes, such changes directly influence the actions of the characters.Įvents such as the 1918 Spanish flu, the 1924 Paulista Revolution, and the 1932 Constitutionalist Revolution are experienced by the Lemos family under the eyes of Dona Lola. The work covers a period of twenty-eight years, starting in 1914, at the beginning of the First World War (mentioned even by the character Tia Emília), and ending in 1942, during the Second World War, at the end of the Estado Novo. We were Six tells the story of a low middle class São Paulo family, led by Dona Lola, wife of Júlio Abílio de Lemos, and their four children: Carlos, Alfredo, Julinho and Isabel. She was portrayed by Glória Pires, who also interpreted Ruth Araújo Assunção in Sand Woman (1993).

It is based on a book of the same name written by the Brazilian writer Maria José Dupré in 1943, from which four other adaptations came before it: with Gessy Fonseca in 1958, with Cleyde Yáconis in 1967, with Nicette Bruno in 1977, and with Irene Ravache in 1994.Ī struggling and optimistic housewife who, despite all the suffering she is subjected to, never loses the joy and strength of life. Battling Mother Eleonora Abílio de Lemos, better known as Mrs Lola, is the protagonist of the Brazilian soap opera 'Éramos Seis' ('We were Six'), broadcasted by Rede Globo in 2019.

Éramos Seis by Maria José Dupré