Chronicle of a Death Foretold is based on a murder that took place in Sucre, Columbia in 1951. On January 22, 1951, Margarita Chica Salas married Miguel Reyes Palencia. However, when Miguel discovered his wife was not a virgin, he returned her to the family home. Two of her brothers killed Cayetano Gentile Chimento for taking her virginity in response.
While the historical murder is the basis of García Márquez's novel, he takes several fictional liberties in telling the story. The novel focuses on the murderers' motivation and how the townspeople passively allowed the murder to happen against their collective conscience. The novel was published in 1981 with immediate success. More than...
