Love in the Time of Cholera Study Guide

The story opens with Dr. Juvenal Urbino de Calle, eminent physician and patron of the arts, arriving at the home of his former chess partner, Jeremiah de Saint-Amour, to certify the death of the Antillean refugee turned studio photographer. The disabled man had vowed to take his own life when he reached sixty rather than suffer the ravages of old age. He had made his vow known to his lover of many years, a woman who cared for him so much that she would never have ignored his wishes or revealed his plans to anyone. The gold cyanide that de Saint-Amour used to kill himself (along with his Great Dane, Mister Woodrow Wilson) leaves behind the scent of bitter almonds, which Dr. Urbino has always associated with unrequited love. While gazing down at a chessboard that shows the final masterful mo... (read more)