{"id":5344,"date":"2026-01-10T13:19:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T13:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5344"},"modified":"2026-01-10T13:19:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T13:19:37","slug":"5-amazing-colombian-books-to-read-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5344","title":{"rendered":"5 Amazing Colombian Books to Read in English"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colombian literature is as varied and changing as the country\u2019s rich history. The Latin American Boom of the 1960s saw Latin American authors gain renown worldwide including internationally acclaimed Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez<\/a>. Enjoy 5 Amazing Colombian Books to Read in English!<\/p>\n

This post may contain affiliate links that earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.<\/em><\/p>\n

5 Amazing Colombian Books to Read in English<\/h2>\n

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras<\/h2>\n
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Buy Now<\/strong>: Amazon<\/a> | AbeBooks<\/a><\/p>\n

When her mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city\u2019s guerrilla-occupied neighborhood, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona\u2019s mysterious ways. Petrona is a young woman crumbling under the burden of providing for her family as the rip tide of first love pulls her in the opposite direction. As both girls\u2019 families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy.<\/p>\n

Inspired by the author\u2019s own life, Fruit of the Drunken Tree is a powerful testament to the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence and the unexpected connections that can blossom out of desperation.<\/p>\n

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez<\/h2>\n
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Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez\u2019s great masterpiece is the story of seven generations of the Buend\u00eda family and of Macondo, the town they built. Though little more than a settlement surrounded by mountains, Macondo has its wars and disasters, even its wonders and its miracles. A microcosm of Columbian life, its secrets lie hidden, encoded in a book, and only Aureliano Buend\u00eda can fathom its mysteries and reveal its shrouded destiny.<\/p>\n

Blending political reality with magic realism, fantasy and comic invention, One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the most daringly original works of the twentieth century.<\/p>\n

Isle of Passion by Laura Restrepo<\/h2>\n
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In 1908, Mexican captain Ram\u00f3n Arnaud and his young bride, Alicia, set sail for Clipperton, a tiny Pacific atoll once dubbed \u201cIsle of Passion\u201d by Spanish explorers. Accompanied by eleven soldiers and their families, the captain is under orders to defend the isolated but strategically well situated island against an improbable French invasion. With its treacherous coral reef and stagnant lagoon, Clipperton is a dire, forbidding place for the new inhabitants. Rigid military order soon gives way to more informal island living, but under Ram\u00f3n\u2019s guidance and inspired by Alicia\u2019s determination the group manages to create a viable community. <\/p>\n

But then, amid political upheaval at home and the first rumblings of World War I, the Clipperton residents are forgotten. The supply ship slated to come every two months comes every third, then sixth, then not at all. Left to the mercies of nature and each other, they fall victim one by one to scurvy, hunger, despair, rivalry, lust and, ultimately, violence.<\/p>\n\n

The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel V\u00e1squez<\/h2>\n
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Buy Now<\/strong>: Amazon<\/a> | AbeBooks<\/a><\/p>\n

No sooner does he get to know Ricardo Laverde in a seedy billiard hall in Bogot\u00e1 than Antonio Yammara realises that the ex-pilot has a secret. Antonio\u2019s fascination with his new friend\u2019s life grows until the day Ricardo receives a mysterious, unmarked cassette.<\/p>\n

Shortly afterwards, he is shot dead on a street corner.<\/p>\n

Yammara\u2019s investigation into what happened leads back to the early 1960s, marijuana smuggling and a time before the cocaine trade trapped Colombia in a living nightmare.<\/p>\n

December Breeze by Marvel Moreno<\/h2>\n
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Buy Now<\/strong>: Amazon<\/a> | AbeBooks<\/a><\/p>\n

From her home in Paris, Lina recalls the story of three women whose lives unfold in the conservative city of Barranquilla in Colombia. Amongst parties at the Country Club and strolls along the promenade in Puerto Colombia, unfurls a story of sensuality supressed by violence; a narrative of oppression in which Dora, Catalina and Beatriz are victims of a patriarchal system living in and among the fragile threads of the fabric of society.<\/p>\n

In Lina\u2019s obsessive recounting of the past, this masterful novel transforms anecdotes of a life into an absolute view of the world, a profound panorama of Colombian society towards the end of the 50s.<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed 5 Amazing Colombian Books to Read in English, 5 Great Brazilian Books Everyone Should Read<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colombian literature is as varied and changing as the country\u2019s rich history. The Latin American Boom of the 1960s saw Latin American authors gain renown worldwide including internationally acclaimed Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez. Enjoy 5 Amazing Colombian Books to Read in English! This post may contain affiliate links that earn us a commission at no extra […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5344"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}