Five Minutes (Portuguese: Cinco Minutos) is the debut novel by Brazilian writer José de Alencar.
Forced to take the next bus, he sits near a woman, falling in love with her at first sight, but he is not able to see her face because it is covered by a veil, and deduces she is ugly.
After one month trying to discover who she is, he finally finds her once again in a theatre, during a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata.
Later on, the man receives a letter from the woman via her old mother, where she says she has been observing him secretly for a long time, and actually loves him, but they would never be able to stay together because she has an incurable disease.
The narrator leaves Brazil after a brief encounter with her in the Villegagnon Island, and searches for her everywhere, always finding a note from her in the places he visits.