Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_Water_for_Chocolate
http://www.enotes.com/like-water
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/likewater/study.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_EsquivelII
I have several connections to this book. First, a lovely group of women in Edinburg, Texas suggested that I might enjoy it. (I enjoy almost everything they suggest.) Second, I grew up just a few miles from the setting of this story and I actually lived in the town of Eagle Pass Texas for a year and a half as a young woman. Both of my daughters were born in Piedras Negras. Third, I love cooking and grocery shopping and recipes. Fourth, I love Mexican food especially when it is prepared by someone who really knows what they are doing. Fifth, when I read the book, I had just left Oaxaca where my husband and I had spent Christmas with friends. One of the special treats of the trip was a nightly cup of hot chocolate made with water and sweetened with cajete. Sixth, I read the book aloud on the beach at Zipolite. I had an audience of one - my husband. Even with all the lovely distractions of the playa, he actually paid attention to the reading. Seventh, I am a woman who has experienced just about everything in the book with the possible exception of setting fires with my passion.
I loved the book - enough that I purchased a copy in Spanish which I read and enjoyed just as much as the English version. It was interesting to see just how closely it had been translated.
I recommend Like Water for Chocolate to all women and to all the men who love them and want just a bit more insight into the crazy life of the feminine mind.
