Three Days for Tomas

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Tres Días Para Tomás
Author Jairo Nieto
Country Colombia
Language Español
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher La Serpiente Emplumada (Colombia)
Publication date 11 December 2006 (Colombia)
Media type Print (Paperback)
Pages 241 p.
ISBN ISBN 978-958-97829-5-8 (Colombian paperback edition)
Preceded by None (Opera Prima)

Tres Días Para Tomás (Three Days for Tomás) is a romantic novel written by Colombian author Jairo Nieto, first published in 2006 by La Serpiente Emplumada.

The novel revolves around the idea that destiny, love and luck seem to be intertwined. The main character, Tomás (the author never reveals his last name), believes to be destined for an existence of love after his grandmother gives him a trilogy of dates which supposedly hold crucial events for his life. He is convinced that love will find him on those dates, and his actions for each day vary accordingly to different periods in his life. Tomás is ultimately alienated by his desire to be engulfed by love.

[edit] Plot summary

Tomás meets Cristina at the beach when he is only ten years old, and his grandmother, who took him under her wing after his parents died, predicts that the young lady he met will bring him great suffering throughout his life. Years later, his grandmother passes away, leaving behind a piece of paper containing three future dates, and signed: “Tomás”. He becomes obsessed with the dates and begins planning his existence with them in mind.

All his life revolves around the passion of his supposed destiny and Cristina, his epic love. Cristina is intensely intelligent and rational, but at the same time so complex, that the romantic and stoic Tomás cannot reach her. His struggle involves trying to conquer both Cristina and those days left behind by his grandmother. Finally, when he is of age, Cristina accepts to marry him, randomly giving the third day as the date for their marriage. The epilogue shows that the dates on the piece of paper were really meant for Cristina.