This book is actually a love story, but that love story doesn't appear until later on. It's partly satire, making fun of religious orders and beliefs. It is set in steamy Colombia. As a reader, one can definitely feel the heat and humidity just leafing through the pages. There's the waterfront, there's the strange sounds, the strange people, and the strange diseases. It's absolutely exotic. And in the midst of this locale is Sierva Maria, the daughter of a Marquis. She is 12 years old, and is rather strange. She has an atypical upbringing, and speaks several African languages given her close exposure to the slaves. From the perspective of White aristocrats and religious representatives, she is definitely different. It's easy therefore to assume that she is possessed. And on top of that, she is bitten by a rabid dog.
People then try to cure her, even though she doesn't exhibit any symptoms of rabies. She gets sent to a convent, where people try various types of exorcisms, essentially torturing her. In the course of these events, she meets a priest, Father Cayetano Delaura, who then happens to fall in love with her. Alas, this love is doomed. Every possible way out has been extinguished, and everyone heads to their demise. Her parents eventually die. Her lover Cayetano is punished and is sent to a leper colony. One other priest who somehow had the ability to see through Sierva Maria's peculiar circumstances and could have given a rational explanation for everything also was found dead. And in the end, Sierva Maria also dies. But her hair keeps on growing, even though she's fully expired.
There's definitely plenty of magical realistic elements here. García Márquez more or less unleased every trick he knew in this short tome, and it was such a joy to read. At the same time, he releases sharp and pointed critiques on the religious institution, as the reader can clearly see that the prevailing belief of demonic possession is perhaps the hypothesis that is farthest away from the truth in the case of Sierva Maria. And this illogical belief just leads to tragedy for all involved parties.
Needless to say, I definitely enjoyed reading this book. I recommend it to anyone who might want to try reading García Márquez. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
See my other book reviews here.
