"The stone shattered at the first blow of the pickax, and a stream of living hair the intense color of copper spilled out of the crypt."

Márquez begins the novel with an account of the inspiration behind its writing, in which, as a reporter, he witnesses the above. He creates the character Sierva María based on the young woman in the crypt, but combines her story with a legend his grandmother told him of a magical young woman with uncut copper hair.

"It was a common occurrence for a stray dog to bite people as it chased after cats or fought turkey buzzards for the carrion in the streets…"

This first chapter sets the scene in colonial Santa María la Antigua as one of extreme poverty and waning prosperity, where death and decay are as common as disease. Turkey buzzards are scavengers, feeding on things that have already died.

The house adjoined the Divina Pastora Asylum for Female Lunatics."

Even before Sierva's alleged possession, questions of female sanity plague the Marquis and his family. The inmates singing provides an ongoing soundtrack for the Marquis' household and Dulce Olivia, the Marquis' first love and an inmate at the asylum, continues to have a relationship with the Marquis even after his marriages.