Love in the Time of Cholera

Gabriel García Márquez's novel, written in Spanish by the Colombian Nobel laureate, follows an unrequited passion that binds three lives together for more than half a century. Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall in love when young and exchange secret letters with the help of her aunt, against the wishes of her father, a mule driver. Fermina instead marries Dr. Juvenal Urbino, a wealthy physician devoted to science and to wiping out cholera. Florentino, a romantic who rises in business, vows to wait for her. The English translation is by Edith Grossman, and the novel was later made into a film directed by Mike Newell.

Bryan Callen, co-host of The Fighter and the Kid, included it in his Top Three Must Reads recommendations.