“Carmelia Montiel, a twenty-year-old virgin, had just bathed in orange-blossom water and was strewing rosemary leaves on Pilar Ternera's bed when the shot rang out. Aureliano José had been destined to find with her the happiness that Amaranta had denied him, to have seven children, and to die in her arms of old age, but the bullet that entered his back and shattered his chest had been directed by a wrong interpretation of the cards.”

Colombian writer and journalist

Gabriel García Márquez was a Colombian writer and journalist, active in the 20th century. Known across Latin America as Gabo or Gabito, he became a major figure in Spanish-language literature. He left law school for journalism after educating himself on his own, and his work and public voice made him widely known. He was also outspoken in his criticism of Colombian and foreign politics. In 1958, he married Mercedes Barcha Pardo, and they had two sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo.