Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies
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- ISBN13: 9780385420174
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in tum-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit.
Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies
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I really had no idea what this novel was about when I started reading it. My book club chose it as their monthly selection, so I went into it blindly. Imagine my surprise…
Like Water for Chocolate is part love story/part fantasy that delves into the lives of a Mexican family during the Mexican Revolution. Tita, the youngest of three daughters, is the victim of harsh family tradition–she cannot marry and is subject to a life of taking care of her mother until the day she dies. What a shame for poor Tita, who is desperately in love with Pedro. So Pedro marries Tita’s older sister in order to stay close to Tita. What happens after that can only happen in Soap Opera Land.
Very mystical, erotic and enjoyable until the last page, Like Water for Chocolate will definitely be remembered for a long time to come. Laura Esquivel has done a wonderful job writing this exceptionally creative, imaginative tale. Now I’m off to see how the movie compares!
Rating: 5 / 5
Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies
Like Water for Chocolate is a novel that will be enjoyed by all romantics regardless of age, gender or culture. It is a tale of true love, family traditions and family secrets. Laura Esquirel writes in a most unique style, giving the reader “monthly installments” of “recipes and home remedies.” Each chapter starts with a recipe and begins with Tita, skillfully executing a meal. Tita, literally born in the kitchen, has the ability to communicate her love and various emotions through food. This book takes plac during the Mexican Revolution and chronicles the events of three daughters and one very controlling Mama. The youngest daughter, Tita, is not permitted to marry, but is expected to care to care for her Mama till the day she dies. Unfortunately, Tita does not learn of this tradition until after she has fallen in love with Pedro, her soul mate. The story really takes off when Mama refuses to allow Tita to marry Pedro but instead offers Tita’s sister Rosaura to Pedro. You will have to read the book to find out how it all develops. But, trust me it is worth it. This book will make you laugh and cry, your heart will ache and sing and strangely you mouth will water for the food prepared by Tita.
Rating: 5 / 5
Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies
Like Water for Chocolate is classic romance-tragedy novel. This novel is rich in symbolism, family secrets and broken taboos. The story takes place in Mexico during the Revolution. Tita, the youngest of three daughters, narrates the story. The story surrounds the forbidden love between Pedro and Tita. Tita being the youngest is expected to forgo marriage and take care of her Mama until she dies. However, this does not deter Pedro and in an effort to be near to Tita, he marries her sister.Resulting in the whole family living under the same roof. The only way Tita and Pedro can express their love is through Tita’s cooking. Tita has the ability to prepare exotic food with erotic effects. In one chapter she had received roses from Pedro and with the pedals prepared a dish of Quail and Rose Pedals. The dish had an extraordinary effect on the family. Upon eating the meal, the family was overcome with emotions of love and longing. With this newfound love language Tita and Pedro were able to communicate their forbidden love. The author, Laura Esquirel, writes in such a creative fashion provoking the sense and providing vivid images of sight as well as smell. This unusal novel combines a magical romance of true love with a mystical fairy tale, resulting in an enjoyable experience for any reader.
Rating: 5 / 5
Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies
LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE by Laura Esquivel (Translated by Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen
February 5, 2005
A book that has become a classic, LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE by Laura Esquivel is the star-crossed romance between Tita and Pedro. They are torn apart due to a “tradition” held in Tita’s family that the youngest daughter is destined to live out her life taking care of her mother. Tita and Pedro have already declared their love for each other, but Mama Elena has other plans. Instead, Pedro marries an older sister, Rosaura, who he does not love at all, but he feels this is the closest he will ever get to his beloved Tita.
Each chapter begins with a Mexican recipe, and the chapters themselves are written as if for a cookbook, except in-between the instructions on how to make “mole”, or how to cook Quail in Rose Petal sauce, Tita’s story is told, narrated by an unnamed grandniece. It is the sad, yet sometimes humorous story of Tita’s life, and how she is frustrated living as the youngest daughter in the house of De La Garza. Tita’s father has been long deceased, and Mama Elena is the head of the household. She rules with a heavy hand and all live in fear of her. Tita, however, is the rebellious child, and is often beaten and punished for the simplest of things. Her biggest punishment is when Mama Elena declares that Tita will not be allowed to marry her love, Pedro, and instead Tita watches her sister take her place.
Her emotions are somehow transmitted to her cooking. By this time of her life, Tita is relegated to head cook, and she is good at it. But the pain and unhappiness she feels is now tasted in her cooking. At her sister’s wedding, the guests become sick because of how Tita feels as she cooks the banquet feast. This is but one example where Tita’s cooking seems to become more than just a meal, sending her own emotions into the food that she is cooking. I loved this element of magical realism, and I’m finding that the more I read books by Hispanic authors, the more sure I will be that I will encounter it.
As many books written by Latin American authors, LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE spans many years, and although it is quite a short book, it does tell the story of two lives that are forever linked through love. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I hear it is just as good as the book. LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE is highly recommended by the Ratmammy.
Rating: 4 / 5
Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies
Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel, is the perfect love story filled with home remedies and delicious monthly recipes. In the early 1900′s, a beautiful baby girl named Tita is born in Mexico. As she grows older, she becomes more beautiful and is drawn to her true love, Pedro. As the youngest of three daughters in the De la Garza family, a tradition states that Tita is forbidden to marry and must always care for her strict Mama Elena (p. 10). Tita and Pedro both search for a way to be together. As Tita grows closer to Pedro, Mama Elena begins to lose her respect and claims that she will never die and always haunt Tita for disobeying her (p. 173). This romantic fiction uses realistic details to describe the all of the food and people that are found at the De la Garza ranch.
With over two million copies in print, I would call Like Water for Chocolate an amazing and outstanding book. This is a great book for someone who enjoys love stories. You may also want to read it if you want to learn some home remedies or culinary skills. Since part of this book is a Mexican cookbook, it really sets itself apart from other love stories. Though in those love stories, there is usually a torn or restricted love between two characters as it is in Like Water for Chocolate. With every new monthly recipe, Esquivel also gives new home remedies packed with a lot of detail. You really have to pay attention to the story and what is going on to understand it, otherwise the ending will confuse you.
With all of the passionate love going on, junior high students would best not read this book. It is a little too mature and should be read by high school students or adults.
I have enjoyed this book a lot. There are some sections in the book where you can stop reading and take a break. Otherwise, this book is hard to put down. It can be a good page-turner.
The ending may be somewhat disappointing and confusing, but the beginning really brings you into the story, and for that I give this book four out of five stars.
Rating: 4 / 5
Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies