Photo: Ben Goldstein/Studio D

No One Writes to the Colonel and Strange Pilgrims
By Gabriel García Márquez

These two collections of short stories have stayed with me—especially the story "The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow." It's about a young woman who's been educated and traveled to Europe. She comes home to a bright future. So what does she do? She falls in love and marries someone who's a disappointment to her family. The young man is passive, dependent on his young bride. On their European honeymoon, as they travel from Spain to France, she has a minor accident. Just when he becomes the husband she needs, she dies alone in a hospital. To me, this is the most gorgeous love story. The husband and wife truly loved each other, if just for a short time. It's a tale of a beautiful disaster.

Why she chose them:
No One Writes to the Colonel has so many metaphors that I didn't have the maturity to understand when I first read it. But my stepfather is a journalist, and he took the time to explain to me that, for example, in the title story, the rooster stands for the sacrifice the Colonel makes in hope of a better future.


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