Product Description

The international bestseller.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7134 in Books
• Published on: 1993-09-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Synopsis
The number one bestseller in Mexico and America for almost two years, and subsequently a bestseller around the world, "Like Water For Chocolate" is a romantic, poignant tale, touched with moments of magic, graphic earthiness, bittersweet wit - and recipes. A sumptuous feast of a novel, it relates the bizarre history of the all-female De La Garza family. Tita, the youngest daughter of the house, has been forbidden to marry, condemned by Mexican tradition to look after her mother until she dies. But Tita falls in love with Pedro, and he is seduced by the magical food she cooks. In desperation, Pedro marries her sister Rosaura so that he can stay close to her. For the next twenty-two years, Tita and Pedro are forced to circle each other in unconsummated passion. Only a freakish chain of tragedies, bad luck and fate finally reunite them against all the odds.

From the Back Cover
The number one bestseller in Mexico for almost two years, and subsequently a bestseller around the world, Like Water For Chocolate is a romantic, poignant tale, touched with moments of magic, graphic earthiness and bittersweet wit. A sumptuous feast of a novel, it relates the bizarre history of the all-female De La Garza family. Tita, the youngest daughter of the house, has been forbidden to marry, condemned by Mexican tradition to look after her mother until she dies. But Tita falls in love with Pedro, and in desperation he marries her sister Rosaura so that he can stay close to her. For the next 22 years Tita and Pedro are forced to circle each other in unconsummated passion. Only a freakish chain of tragedies, bad luck and fate finally reunite them against all the odds.

About the Author
Laura Esquivel
Laura Esquivel is one of Mexico's most celebrated writers. She now divides her time between Mexico City and New York. Originally a screenwriter, she wrote the script for the award-winning film of her first book, Like Water for Chocolate.

Customer Reviews

Still a wonderful read
I'd first read `Like Water for Chocolate' about 10 years ago and had found it simply amazing. Then again, it had been the my first contact with a book so unique ... the first novel to talk about the "magical" power of food, a combination which is now much more common thanks to writers and books like Joanne Harris' wonderful `Chocolat', Lily Prior's `La Cucina', Anthony Capella's `Food of Love', and Isabel Allende's `Aphrodite' and many others. In fact many of my favourite books fall into what has now become a genre in its own right.

`Like Water for Chocolate' may have lost some of it's uniqueness over the years but much of its magic and power is still there - even for a reader that's become much more jaded over the years. Well worth a read.

This is a wonderful book
This book is a must for anyone interested in Hispanic literature. It combines a beautiful, troubled love story with hispanic symbolism and imagery to create a wonderful novel of forbidden love, hidden attraction and mexican traditions and recipes. Look out for the fabulously evil Mama Elena ('I warn you sir, I have very good aim, and a very bad temper'!), the delightfully rebellious Gertudis with her explosive sexual frustration and the incredibly lovely and understanding John. This novel contains a host of incredibly different supporting characters, who all revolve around the virtous Tita, and her emotionally expressive recipes. This book made me want to jump up, cook a mexican 'mole' and dance with revolutionaries. it's great. Buy it. Now.

Overrated
I don't know why everyone's got so worked up about this book. Hopefully it's just the translation, but the writing was bludgeoningly pedestrian. The plot was hugely derivative (you'll pretty much be able to write the thing yourself after reading the first chapter) and I was afraid to sneeze while reading it in case all the characters blew over. While we're on the subject, the basic premise put me off almost from the outset: would this guy really drop everything and marry the love of his life's sister based on about one disapproving sentence from her mother? And the author seemed to take a rather unsettling pleasure in punishing the poor people who happen to get in the protagonists' way. I have to admit that it wasn't wholly without merit; some of the magic realism was fun, but felt rather forced at times.