What is Gabriel García Márquez's last novel? Details explored as sons publish the book that was slated to be destroyed

Gabriel García Márquez was one of the best authors of the 20th century, and his works have touched millions of people across the globe. The late author was one of the most prolific writers to have graced literature. His fictional works pioneered magic realism in modern writing with books like Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude, selling more than 50 million copies worldwide.

The author passed away in 2014 succumbing to pneumonia. Márquez was already suffering from dementia for years at the time and left behind a novel that is now being published posthumously. The novel titled Until August is being published by his two sons Gonzalo and Rodrigo.

Gabriel García Márquez was a Colombian national and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, in recognition of his novels and short stories. However, the author was not fond of his last novel and even ordered it to be destroyed by his sons. With the English language edition of the novel set to be released on March 12, 2024, this article explores what went behind García Márquez's last work.

---

Gabriel García Márquez asked for the novel to "be destroyed," says his sons

En Agosto nos vemos (translating to Until August in English) is Gabriel García Márquez's posthumous novel being published by his sons. However, according to his son Gonzalo, publishing the book is a "betrayal" to his father.

In an interview with BBC, Gonzalo said the following about publishing the novel:

"We did think about it for about three seconds - was it a betrayal to my parents, to my father's [wishes]?"

He further continued:

"And we decided, yes, it was a betrayal. But that's what children are for."

Gonzalo, who is García Márquez's younger son said that the author was not at all satisfied with his last work. Márquez made several edits to the draft which he had been working on for a long time. The author had even read the first chapter of the book publicly in 1999 before deciding not to publish it. According to Gonzalo, Gabriel García Márquez told him directly "that the novel had to be destroyed."

According to the New York Times, he worked on the material for years, attempting at least five iterations, cutting and pasting lines, making notes for his assistant, and altering adjectives. He eventually gave up and delivered the decisive verdict of not publishing it.

His sons justify the publishing of their late father's work a decade after his death by saying that García Márquez missed out on the "interesting things that were there" in the book.

The official English synopsis of the story reads:

"Sitting alone, overlooking the still and blue lagoon, Ana Magdalena Bach surveys the men of the hotel bar. She is happily married and has no reason to escape the world she has made with her husband and children. And yet, every August, she travels here to the island where her mother is buried, and for one night takes a new lover."

It further continues:

"Amid sultry days and tropical downpours, lotharios and conmen, Ana journeys further each year into the hinterland of her desire, and the fear that sits quietly at her heart."

Although critics have remarked that the novel is not reflective of earlier works by the author, it has redeemable qualities. The Telegraph's Sarah Perry termed it "oddly moving."

---

The English version of Gabriel García Márquez's Until August will be released worldwide on March 12, 2024. Spanish versions of the book are already available for purchase.