Carlos Fradique Mendes is a fictional character whose journey very much follows that of Eça de Queirós’ during various moments of his career between 1869 and 1900. The Correspondence of Fradique Mendes is the result of this mirroring. Although it has not been published as a book by the author, it nonetheless offers a way of understanding the world that dominated the late nineteenth century. The article seeks to demonstrate how Eça used Fradique to lay out his expectations for the century that was about to begin.