This study examines the characteristics of the translations of the Clube do Livro, which aimed at selling its low-cost issues to lower-middle-class and working-class readers who were not previously regular book buyers. This article starts with a brief history of the Clube do Livro, followed by an examination of the way in which it was forced to make cuts and changes in its translations in order to avoid tough censorship. It further examines the paternalistic and educational aspect of the book club. Translations produced for the mass market, ‘factory translations’, have specific production line characteristics; these are described in some detail. Finally, using the ideas of Janice Radway on romance fiction and of Michel de Certeau on popular culture, the conclusion looks positively at the Clube do Livro and stresses that the reader may use such texts for beneficial personal ends.