How far would you go to save a relationship? And what happens when desire pushes you beyond the boundaries you thought you would never cross? Raphael Montes’ new novel was released on September 1st, and everyone is talking about it.
WHO IS RAPHAEL MONTES?
Raphael Montes is a Brazilian lawyer, novelist, screenwriter and producer from Rio de Janeiro, known for his shocking plot twists and complex characters that make you question how far the human mind can go.
He published his first novel, Suicidas, in 2010, after being named a finalist in the Benvirá literary competition. In 2016, he released The Secret Dinner, his most famous novel, which has sold more than 300,000 copies. It was also published in the United States by Celadon Books in 2026.
In 2021, he created Casa Montes, a development studio dedicated to creating original works and adaptations for film, television, literature and theater, exploring themes of suspense, crime and horror.
In September 2026, Montes published his ninth novel, A Estranha na Cama, which became the best-selling book at Companhia das Letras’ stand at the 2026 São Paulo Book Biennial. The novel is already making its way to the screen: even before its publication, Netflix had announced a film adaptation starring Paolla Oliveira, Bella Campos and Emílio Dantas, directed by Esmir Filho and written by Montes.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE READING
A Estranha na Cama is an erotic thriller that tells the story of a couple, Diego and Laura, who have been married for 15 years. He is a successful lawyer, while she works in a flower shop that he bought for her. They seem like the perfect couple, but after years together, the relationship is no longer as it used to be. Their marriage is in a crisis: their sex life has become boring, and they are desperate to save it.
Diego then suggests a threesome, a one-night experience with someone else just to spice things up. At first, Laura hesitates. She has always been very monogamous and believes it would be cheating, which raises the question: can opening the relationship for one night really be considered cheating? For Diego and Laura, bringing a third person into their marriage becomes an attempt to save a relationship that has lasted for over a decade.
After thinking about it, Laura decides to accept, and they start to think about who the third person would be. Diego finds a woman on an app and then they invite her to their penthouse in Ipanema.
The night ends in a way you would never imagine a threesome could. Faced with a huge problem, they do everything they can to make sure no one finds out what happened that night. But, as in every Raphael’s novel, secrets start to be revealed.
The narrative unfolds as Laura and Diego are separately questioned about everything that happened that night, with each of them telling their side of the story. Not only are we trying to figure out what really happened, but we also have to decide who to believe.
MY THOUGHTS AS A READER
A Estranha na Cama, for me, is one of those books you can’t put down. I read it on a road trip in about 6 hours and was completely obsessed with the way Montes told the story. Every time I thought I knew what was about to happen, I was surprised by something I never could have imagined.
One thing I really enjoy about Raphael’s books is how he includes little Easter eggs referencing his other works. In A Estranha na Cama, for example, we get Detective Aquino, a recurring character in the author’s universe, along with a few other references from his previous novels.
He explores relationships, sex, attraction, and it was the first time that he wrote explicit sex scenes, which, according to him, was a challenge. Although it is a very explicit book, sexually speaking, it is not one of those books where sex is used just to fill blank pages. Every scene makes you understand a little more about the characters and the situation that they have gotten themselves into.
Raphael has a unique way of writing scenes that make you extremely uncomfortable, yet impossible to stop reading. In this book, however, that discomfort does not come from the extreme violence we are used to seeing in his works.
THE DARK SIDE OF DESIRE
Montes was interviewed by Folha de São Paulo and said something that has been on my mind ever since: “Sex is more controversial than violence. Talking about sexual freedom, desire, lust, that’s what really unsettles people”.
When I started to read A Estranha na Cama, I had no idea it was an erotic thriller. As the book went on, and as a Raphael Montes fan, I realized I was more shocked by the explicit sex scenes than by all the extreme violence I had read in his other works.
I went into the novel thinking I was about to read the same level of violence and gore as in The Secret Dinner, for example. Instead, I found myself reacting to something much more intimate, and maybe that is what makes A Estranha na Cama such an interesting change in Raphael’s work. He still wanted to shock his readers, but in a completely different way.
We are used to talking about violence; we see it everywhere. You turn on the TV, and the news is telling you about how a husband killed his wife; you start watching a new series, and someone is murdered in the first scene; we listen to crime podcasts all the time, and we see videos on TikTok talking about serial killers and what they did to their victims.
Sex, however, is a different story. We are not that open about it, especially when it comes to women. We are not taught to explore our sexuality and try new things; everything related to it is still taboo. Talking openly about desire and pleasure is something women are expected not to do, and maybe that’s why seeing someone explore desire and different types of pleasure makes us so uncomfortable.
We live with desire; it is something we all have inside us. But why are we so hesitant to talk about it? When did we decide that talking about our sex life with someone we know is more disturbing than talking about how someone was beaten to death? Or that talking about a fetish is more unusual than telling stories about a criminal? And how are we still uncomfortable watching sex scenes in movies and TV shows while pictures of dead people are all over the internet?
Talking to Claudia Magazine, Montes says that sex, just like violence, can’t just be there to entertain; it must add to the narrative and bring up important discussions. He explores different forms of sexual expression, including BDSM and other unconventional practices, but the point is not to make the reader blush. He uses that to explore power, jealousy, trust and boundaries in a relationship. Sex becomes just another way of revealing secrets, creating tension, and sometimes taking away the sense of control the characters thought they had.
After years of writing about the darkest parts of human behavior, he turns to something that is much closer to everyday life: desire. And maybe that is even more unsettling.
———————————————————————————————————————————————-
The article above was edited by Julia Delboni.
Liked this type of content? Check Her Campus Cásper Líbero home page for more!