"Five Minutes" is the first novel by José de Alencar and is characterized by romanticism in the style of serialized novels: short and of naive love, at the time, read by society ladies. The story takes place in Rio de Janeiro in the 1850s as its backdrop.

"Five Minutes" tells the story of the main character's marriage to Carlota. But the reader becomes familiar with the story of the mishap and mismatch in the form of a letter sent to a cousin. The reader here is a third person, a "voyeur" who is between the character and his cousin.

The author tries to make the reader think that everything is imaginary and part of the character's fantasies, but José de Alencar narrates true events of the time that marked Rio de Janeiro in the early century. He is so meticulous in this aspect by giving dates and times of events.