Like Water for Chocolate | Like Water for Chocolate

At a glance:

Author: Laura Esquivel
First Published: 1989
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Fantasy
Time of Work: Early in the twentieth century
Setting: Coahuila, Mexico
Principal Characters: Tita de la Garza, Mamá Elena, Gertrudis, Rosaura, Nacha, Pedro Muzquiz, John Brown
Genres: Long fiction, Satire, Magical Realism, Fantasy
Subjects: Tradition, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Gender roles, Supernatural, Marriage, 1910’s, 1920’s, 1930’s, Emotions, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, Duty, Food, Cookery or cooks, Mexico or Mexicans, Latin America or Latin Americans
Locales: Piedras Negras, Mexico

Form and Content

Like Water for Chocolate is divided into twelve chapters, one for each month of the year. Each chapter is preceded by a recipe that corresponds to the action that follows. The structure of the novel suggests the tradition of women’s magazines that came into vogue during the mid-nineteenth century. These periodicals included, like Esquivel’s novel, recipes, home remedies, and, often, sentimental novels in monthly installments.

The novel takes place on a ranch in northern Mexico at the time of the Revolution. Just as the country is in a state of...

Like Water for Chocolate | Like Water for Chocolate

At a glance:

Form and Content

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