Un a muerte anunciada (Chronicle of a Death Foretold) by the famous Latin Boom writer Gabriel García Márquez is a fascinating tale of a plotted murder in a small community in Colombia. As you can see in the title, this novel is anything but a mystery: we know that someone is going to die, but who? And more importantly, why?
The story starts from the murder itself, revealing the ending and then piecing together the events leading to this tragic incident. We learn right away that the victim in question is Santiago Nasar, who is accused of having taken the virginity of the beautiful Ángela Vicario. The family Vicario was rather poor, and Ángela was about to wed Bayardo San Román, a very wealthy man. However, after discovering that his bride-to-be wasn’t pure on their wedding night, he returned her home. The brothers, outraged, went around town, announcing their plan to murder Santiago.
The story from there on takes several twists and turns, particularly due to the aftermath of the plotted assassination. This is the magic of Márquez – although you think you know where the story is heading, there are always surprises right around the corner.
This is a novella, meaning it is one of Márquez’s shorter novels, with less than 150 pages. Out of all Márquez’s novels, this is one of the easier ones to read, and I would recommend it to anyone going into AP Spanish Language and Culture, or a second-year university student. It’s concise, the Spanish is clear, and it is easy to follow. It is also available in English and many other languages, therefore if you’re a beginner, try it in English and read it a few years later in Spanish. Gabriel García Márquez is one of the great writers, and this is a perfect work of his to tackle.
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