I am not sure if I can claim that I have read this book, but I have listened to the radio drama adaptation by BBC radio, and as this is the only book which Marquez has ever allowed to be adapted in such a way, my only guess is that it should be pretty truthful to the book itself.
Marquez is a master story teller, and this one is no exception, although shorter than his other novels at about 160 pages. The story starts with an excavation in a Latin American country to make way for a shopping mall build on top of an ancient monastery when bones of a young girl are discovered deep underground in one of the prison cells. Then one of the excavators recognizes the remains as that of which his grandmother told him of the beautiful and damned Maria Cierva. Cierva was a daughter of a spanish nobleman and half-indian woman, spent her childhood living with the black slaves and learned their language and ways. When she is bitten bya a rabid dog she is thought to be possesed by the devil, and a young, book-loving priest is sent to exorcise her. However the young priest falls in love with the beautiful girl and she falls in love with him, although less than half his age.
This love doesn't go undiscovered and unpunished by the Bishop and with the help of the strict monastery's chief nun. The young priest is send to a leper colony as a punishment and the bishop takes upon himself to perform the exorcism. However the priest finds secret tunnels by which he visits Cierva Maria every night and they profess their love until one day the chief nun finds the tunnel and closes it. Soon after Cierva Maria dies during the barbaric exorcism rites or from the torture in her cell, and the young priest spends the rest of his life in the leper colony.
A beautiful love story from a master story teller, and strong political activist, Gabo Garcia Marquez.
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