Francisco João da Costa (28 December 1859 – 1900),[1] also known by his pen name Gip (stylized in all caps), was a Portuguese journalist and a major figure in Goan journalism of the nineteenth century.
Costa studied law, and developed a profile as a journalist and short-story writer alongside his legal career.
It is set in a thinly disguised version of Costa's home town, Margão, and focuses its satire on the Catholic bourgeoisie of the Velhas Conquistas of Portuguese Goa.
'Rather than a novel, Jacob e Dulce is perhaps best read as a series of sketches pushed forward narratively by the machinations surrounding an arranged marriage' between its eponymous protagonists.
Influenced by the writing of the Portuguese satiric realist Eça de Queiroz, Jacob e Dulce is noted for moving Goan writing beyond romanticism towards social realism, developing social sature, and capturing a colloquial and local tone in the Portuguese dialogue.