Iaiá Garcia is considered to be the last novel of Machado’s so-called romantic phase. The novel was originally published in serial form from January to March 1878 in thirty-eight installments in the newly formed periodical O Cruzeiro. It was published in book form the same year. Similar to his earlier novels, Iaiá Garcia addresses themes of family, love and marriage. The novel intertwines the lives of three characters, Iaiá Garcia, Jorge, and Estela, while providing a psychological study of pride, infatuation, love, jealousy, misunderstanding, shame, and guilt, all against the backdrop of the Paraguayan War.