Synopsis

Of Love and Other Demons is set in a South American Seaport in the 18th century, the Colonial era. A time of viceroys and bishops, masters and slaves,

Saints, and pirates. This is the story of an unloved and neglected 12 years old daughter of a Spanish noble family named Sierva Maria. Sierva Maria, a girl who is blessed with beauty and a train of coppery hair, has to face the rejection throughtout her life. She has already rejected and alienated by her parents when she is still a baby. Since she is unwanted by both of her parents, she is relegated to the slaves' courtyard and care. At the slave courtyard, she absorbs and is shaped by the slaves subculture, the black milieu, the religious rituals, superstition and

survivorship.

On her twelfth birthday, in the market place, the girl is bitten by a rabid dog. The diagnosis proves that the girl shows no symptom of rabies. Yet, the local Bishop believes that the girl suffers from the disease. Concerning this matter, he believes that rabies in a human being can be a form of demonic possession. Due to his opinion, finally, Sierva Maria is isolated and must be exorcised in the convent of Santa Clara. At the convent, she is imprisoned in the most deserted cell. Moreover, no one is allowed to talk or to come near her.

The worse is, the Abbes and the sisters in the convent, who also believe that

Sierva Maria is possessed, mistreat and reject her.

Fortunately, Sierva Maria is taken care by a young priest, Father Cayetano

Delaura. He is the only person in the convent who truly cares for Sierva Maria.

Father Cayetano Delaura treats her with great care and affection. As they get to know each other better, their relationship changes into a romance. Yet, the Bishop finds out their love affair. Thus, because of the forbidden love, Father

Cayetano Delaura is handed over to the Holy Office and condemned at a public

trial. As for Sierva Maria, she has to live all by herself once again, with no one who cares for her. She faces the more rejecting acts done by the adults in the

convent. In the end, because she cannot bear the sufferings, she gives up her life.

Sierva Maria dies just before her sixth session of torturing exorcism. Biography of the Author

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a Colombian born author of astonishing skill, was born on March 6, 1928 in Aracataca, a town in Northern Colombia. He is one of the most famous Colombian authors and the winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in

1982. During his childhood, he lives with his grandparents. His grandfather,

Nicolas Ricardo Marquez, is a Colonel and also an excellent story teller.

Meanwhile, his grandmother is a woman who believes in superstitions and omens.

It is from his grandmother Garcia Marquez hears stories of ghost and superstitions. Later, during his career as an author, his grandmother's supernatural stories reflect in most of his novels.

In order to begin his formal education, his father who works as a pharmacist decides to send him to Barranquilla in 1936. In 1940, at the age of twelve, he continues his study in the Licea Nacional School. Then, at the age of eighteen, he attends a law school.

His career as an author begins as a newspaper reporter in his native country. His first novel, , was published in 1955. In June 1967, his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude was published, and gained a recognation as his most excellent work which brought him into success and a

Nobel Prize in 1982.

As an outstanding living author, he has published many books, including

Chronicle of A Death Foretold in 1981, The Fragrance of Guava in 1982, Love In the Time of Cholera in 1986, The General In His Labyrinth in 1990, Strange

Pilgrim in 1992, Of Love and Other Demons in 1994, and his most recent book

News of A Kidnapping in 1996.