Set in turn-of-the-century Mexico, this romantic, earthy, and poignant story, touched with bittersweet moments of magic and sensuality, celebrates food and passion. As the youngest daughter in a traditional Mexican family led by a tyrannical rancher, Tita de la Garza is bound by tradition to remain unmarried so that she can care for her mother in old age. What follows after Tita falls in love is a lively, funny tale filled with irony, wit, magic, realism, and folklore, as Tita struggles to be true both to family tradition and her own heart.

“A tall-tale, fairy-tale, soap-opera romance, Mexican cookbook and home-remedy handbook all rolled into one, Like Water For Chocolate is one tasty entree from first-time novelist Laura Esquivel.”— San Francisco Chronicle

 
WINNER - YALSA Best Books for Young Adults

 
Also available in a Spanish-langauge edition

 
Originally published in 1990, Like Water for Chocolate (Como agua para chocolate) won Laura Esquivel international acclaim. The film based on the book, with a screenplay by Laura Esquivel, swept the Ariel awards of the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures, winning eleven in all, and went on to become the largest grossing foreign film ever released in the United States. In 1994 Like Water for Chocolate won the prestigious ABBY award, which is given annually by the American Booksellers Association. The book has been translated into thirty languages and there are over three million copies in print worldwide. Ms. Esquivel lives in Mexico.