Memories of My Melancholy Whores

I am a big fan of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Somehow he can make even the most unusual of stories beautiful (I mean, have you ever read Love in the Time of Cholera?). And this new novella, his first in ten years is no exception.

The main character decides on his ninetieth birthday that he will treat himself to a virgin prostitute. But when he meets her, asleep on the bed, all he wants to do is watch her. So, he goes back night after night and kisses her sleeping figure, reads to her, plays her music in her sleep - all this has a dramatic effect on him. For the first time in his life, he is in love. The weekly column he writes for the newspaper reflects this and the whole city celebrates him as a grand lover and lover of life.

Of course, there are always complications, but the novel tells us that is never too late to love - nor is it ever so unlikely as to be impossible. A beautiful little story.