30 Books in 30 Beach Days Day 18: "Like Water for Chocolate"
Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate is a beautiful, vivid picture of magical realism, set in Mexico. It is a star-crossed love story: the tale of Tita de la Garza, the youngest daughter of Mama Elena. Tita falls in love at first sight with her neighbor, Pedro, who reciprocates her feelings. When he asks Mama Elana if he can marry Tita, however, Mama Elena reveals that she will never allow Tita to marry. It is their family's tradition that the youngest daughter remain unmarried so she can care for her mother until her mother's dying day. In order to remain close to Tita despite his inability to marry her, a heartbroken Pedro accepts Mama Elena's suggestion that he marry Tita's older sister Rosaura.
It is as Tita is preparing food for her beloved's wedding to her sister that she realizes her magical ability to convey her emotions in the food she cooks. Tita cries bitter tears into her sister's wedding cake, which makes all the guests gravely ill. This is the first of many instances throughout the book in which Tita transfers her feelings to the people who eat her food.
Like Water for Chocolate feels like a fairy tale, even before the reader reaches the chapters that center on Tita's magical talent. Tita's is a world inhabited and run by women, where men are central to the plot but marginal, passive characters in the story. The cruel Mama Elena has cast something of a curse upon her daughter, who unintentionally finds herself in situations that border on magical and mystical in order to be with her one true love.
Interestingly, though, the novel rarely feels overdone or incredible; rather, it makes sense that Tita's fiery passion, her heart-wrenching grief, her indomitable love would overflow from her person through her hands and into the vehicle she loves most of all after Pedro: her food. Even Mama Elena is not an archetypical villain; the reader comes to understand the tragedies that have shaped her own life, making her a rounder character than we initially understand.
A wonderful part of the book is the inclusion of a Mexican recipe at the beginning of each chapter. Through descriptions of her food and her feelings, we come to understand Tita and her culture -- and we can almost taste the love and passion Esquivel pours into her pages.
Rating: 4/5
