A review by sksrenninger
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

4.0

Very unlike anything I've read before; I'll have to try some more magical realism. Are you supposed to (be able to) make the recipes? Personally, I read it as more of a fairy tale / fable, and I didn't have the problems that other readers seemed to have, but then again, I love fantasy. I don't know *almost any* Mexican history, so if the story parallels that, I missed it, but I'm assuming the domineering, witholding, demanding mother vs originally submissive, hopeful, determined daughter setup stands in for the two forces in the Mexican revolution. Does the "last daughter must take care of her mother forever without marrying" tradition mirror the social-class situation in Mexico pre-Revolution?

Spoiler

And then, the way she vanquishes her mother by refusing to give in, but her mom lights Pedro on fire: the time it takes for Pedro to recover is a stand-in for the time it takes for society to pull itself back together after a kind of catastrophic fight (like a war)?

I would think so, but I don't know; someone who knows better, please feel free to chime in! I did like the idea of food expressing all the things Tita couldn't say, because I'm obsessed with food and I like whimsy and mysticism. Maybe it's because food is such a basic and everyday need, it's a reminder that life continues in all kinds of circumstances? I don't know--someone have this conversation with me. But anywho, I thought it was cute, and if you can read it without needing it to be perfectly realistic, you might enjoy it as well.