Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:
x dismiss this message

Did you know you can edit this page?

Like Water for Chocolate
  • Rated 0 stars
Read Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate (1989) (edit title/settings)

A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies

by Laura Esquivel (Author) (edit contributors)

Share this book on:
see page history

Description edit see section history

The number one bestseller in Mexico and America for almost two years, and subsequently a bestseller around the world, "Like Water For Chocolate" is a romantic, poignant tale, touched with moments of magic, graphic earthiness, bittersweet wit - and recipes. A sumptuous feast of a novel, it... read more

Summary edit see section history

The book is divided into twelve sections named after the months of the year. Each section begins with a Mexican recipe. The chapters outline the preparation of the dish and ties it to an event in the protagonist's life.
Tita de la Garza, the novel's protagonist, is fifteen at the start of... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The book is divided into twelve sections named after the months of the year. Each section begins with a Mexican recipe. The chapters outline the preparation of the dish and ties it to an event in the protagonist's life.
Tita de la Garza, the novel's protagonist, is fifteen at the start of the story, which takes place during the Mexican Revolution. She lives with her mother, Mama Elena, and her older sisters Gertrudis and Rosaura, on a ranch near the Mexico – US border.
Pedro, a neighbor, and Tita fall in love at first sight. He asks Mama Elena for Tita’s hand in marriage, but Mama Elena forbids it, citing the De la Garza family tradition which demands that the youngest daughter (in this case Tita) must remain unmarried and take care of her mother until her mother's death. Pedro reluctantly marries Tita's older sister Rosaura instead. Tita can hardly keep from grieving, despite Pedro’s assurance that it is Tita he loves and not Rosaura, and that he only married Rosaura to be closer to Tita.
Tita has a love of the kitchen and a deep connection with food, a skill enhanced by the fact that she was practically raised from birth by the family cook. Her love for cooking also comes from the fact that she was born in the kitchen. In contrast, Rosaura's cooking skills are poor, making Pedro even less attracted to her, as he barely wanted to consummate their marriage to begin with. Despite this, he and Rosaura have a son, Roberto. Rosaura is unable to nurse Roberto, so Pedro brings him to the kitchen for Tita to feed. Miraculously, Tita begins to produce breast milk and is able to nurse the baby. This draws her and Pedro closer than ever. They begin meeting secretly, snatching their few times together by sneaking around the ranch and behind the backs of Mama Elena and Rosaura.
Tita’s strong emotions become part of her cooking and she unconsciously begins to use her cooking to affect the people around her. After one particularly rich meal of quail in rose petal sauce flavored with Tita’s erotic thoughts of Pedro, Tita's older sister Gertrudis becomes inflamed with lust and leaves the ranch making ravenous love with a revolutionary soldier on the back of a horse.
Rosaura and Pedro are forced to leave for San Antonio, Texas, at the urging of Mama Elena, who suspects a relationship between Tita and Pedro. Rosaura loses her son Roberto and is later made sterile from complications with the birth of her daughter Esperanza.
Upon learning the news of her nephew's death, whom she cared for herself, Tita blames her mother. Mama Elena responds by smacking Tita across the face with a wooden spoon. Tita, unwilling to cope with her mother's controlling ways, secludes herself in the dovecote until the sympathetic Dr. John Brown reasons with her and convinces her to come down. Mama Elena clearly states that there is no place for "lunatics" like Tita on the farm, and wants her to be institutionalized. However, the doctor decides to take care of Tita at his home instead. Tita develops a close relationship with Dr. Brown, even planning to marry him at one point, but her feelings for Pedro do not waver.
Over the course of years, Rosaura and Mama Elena die. With the removal of all obstacles to their relationship Tita and Pedro finally share a night of bliss that is so heated and passionate that Pedro dies while making love to Tita. Upset at being left alone in the world, Tita proceeds to consume kitchen matches and candles while thinking of Pedro’s face. The matches are sparked by the heat of his memory, creating a fire that engulfs them both, leading to their deaths in union and the total destruction of the ranch.
The narrator of the story is the daughter of Esperanza, Pedro's daughter. Dr. Brown's son Alex marries Esperanza near the conclusion of the story. The narrator then says that all that was found under the smoldering rubble of the ranch was Tita's cookbook, which contained all the recipes described in the preceding chapters.

Characters edit see section history

  • Tita: The protagonist of the novel. She is the youngest daughter of Mama Elena, thus prohibited by family tradition from marrying so that she will be free to take care of her mother later in life.
  • Nacha: Worked in the kitchen and raised Tita when her mother had no more milk for the baby. Nacha connects Tita with food and culture.
  • Mama Elena: The tyrannical, widowed matriarch of the De La Garza clan.
  • Pedro: Young love of Tita
  • Rosaura: One of Tita's older sisters.
  • John Brown: Family doctor.
  • Gertrudis: Tita's sister. Resident badass.
  • Chencha: Maid in the House of the La Garza's. Later she is one of the people Tita trusts the most.
  • Esperanza: Rosaura's daughter.
  • Alex: Dr. John Brown's son of first marriage.
  • Roberto Muzquiz: Rosaura's son.
  • Nicolas: Manager of the ranch.
Show all 12 characters
Popular Covers

Loading covers…

Choose your book’s cover

Quotes edit see section history

  • “Look, Tita, the simple truth is that the truth does not exist; it all depends on a person's point of view.”
    Gertrudis
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • Tita se mudó a la cocina y entre atoles y tés creció de lo más sana y rozagante.
    Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers
  • si bien todos nacemos con una caja de cerillos en nuestro interior, no los podemos encender solos, necesitamos, como en el experimento, oxígeno y la ayuda de una vela.
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
  • Tita literalmente estaba «como agua para chocolate». Se sentía de lo más irritable.
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
  • Sabes muy bien que por ser la más chica de las mujeres a ti te corresponde cuidarme hasta el día de mi muerte.
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
  • En ese momento comprendió perfectamente lo que debe sentir la masa de un buñuelo al entrar en contacto con el aceite hirviendo.
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
  • pues los olores tienen la característica de reproducir tiempos pasados junto con sonidos y olores nunca igualados en el presente.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • cuando contaba con dos días de edad, su padre, o sea mi bisabuelo, murió de un infarto.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • Cada persona tiene que descubrir cuáles son sus detonadores para poder vivir, pues la combustión que se produce al encenderse uno de ellos es lo que nutre de energía al alma. En otras palabras, esta combustión es su alimento. Si uno no descubre a tiempo cuáles son sus propios detonadores, la caja de cerillos se humedece y ya nunca podremos encender un solo fósforo.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • Tita nació llorando de antemano, tal vez porque ella sabía que su oráculo determinaba que en esta vida le estaba negado el matrimonio.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • Si Tita no podía casarse ni tener hijos, ¿quién la cuidaría entonces al llegar a la senectud?
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Show all 11 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

Take care to chop the onion fine. To keep from crying when you chop it (which is so annoying!), I suggest you place a little bit on your head.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. January - Christmas Rolls
2. February - Chabela Wedding Cake
3. March - Quail in Rose Petal Sauce
4. April - Turkey Mole with Almonds and Sesame Seeds
5. May - Northern-Style Chorizo
6. June - A recipe for making matches
7. July - Ox-tail Soup
8. August - Champandongo
9. September - Chocolate and Three King's Day Bread
10. October - Cream Fritters
11. November - Beans with Chile Tezcucana-style
12. December - Chiles in Walnut Sauce

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 9 of 9 in Publishers Weekly Bestselling Novels In 1993. (authoritative list)
This is book 269 of 1286 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Laura Esquivel (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Yareli Arizmendi (Reader) - reader of the audio cassette edition
  2. Yareli Arizmendi (Translator) - Translated this book into English

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: Spanish
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Mexico
Publication Date: 1989
ISBN: 1415936102
Page Count: 256

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PQ7298.15.S638 C6613
  • Dewey: 863.64

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

This is not a book for children as there are some explicit sexual scenes.

Movie Connections edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The School of Essential Ingredients
  • Chocolat

We’re hiding the errata, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.

© 2006-2013 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close