Name: Like Water for Chocolate
Price: 236.00 ZAR
Availability: InStock
Author: Laura Esquivel
ISBN: 9780552995870

Type

Physical Book

Author

Laura Esquivel

Publisher

Black Swan

Synopsis "Like Water for Chocolate "

Each chapter of screenwriter Esquivel s utterly charming interpretation of life in turn of the century Mexico begins with a recipe not surprisingly since so much of the action of this exquisite first novel (a bestseller in Mexico) centers around the kitchen the heart and soul of a traditional Mexican family. The youngest daughter of a well born rancher Tita has always known her destiny to remain single and care for her aging mother. When she falls in love her mother quickly scotches the liaison and tyrannically dictates that Tita s sister Rosaura must marry the luckless suitor Pedro in her place. But Tita has one weapon left her cooking. Esquivel mischievously appropriates the techniques of magical realism to make Tita s contact with food sensual instinctual and often explosive. Forced to make the cake for her sister s wedding Tita pours her emotions into the task; each guest who samples a piece bursts into tears. Esquivel does a splendid job of describing the frustration love and hope expressed through the most domestic and feminine of arts family cooking suggesting by implication the limited options available to Mexican women of this period. Tita s unrequited love for Pedro survives the Mexican Revolution the births of Rosaura and Pedro s children even a proposal of marriage from an eligible doctor. In a poignant conclusion Tita manages to break the bonds of tradition if not for herself then for future generations.

Laura Esquivel

(Author)

View Author's Page

(Mexico City, 1950) Began her career as a teacher and film screenwriter, an activity in which she has received various accolades, including the Ariel Award for the best film screenplay. Since the publication of Like Water for Chocolate, her first novel, she gained international recognition and became one of the most important Mexican writers. She received an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the University of Saint Andrew in Scotland. She has also been awarded the Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit by the government of Chile and has been the recipient of the ABBY (American Booksellers Book of the Year) award, a distinction that for the first time in its history was granted to a foreign writer. Her novel Like Water for Chocolate has been translated into 36 languages and adapted into film and theater.

See less