Laura Esquivel

Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. 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 relates the bizarre history of the all-female De La Garza family. Tita, the youngest daughter of the house, has been forbidden to marry, condemned by Mexican tradition to look after her mother until she dies. But Tita falls in love with Pedro, and he is seduced by the magical food she cooks. In desperation, Pedro marries her sister Rosaura so that he can stay close to her, so that Tita and Pedro are forced to circle each other in unconsummated passion. Only a freakish chain of tragedies, bad luck and fate finally reunite them against all the odds.

This exuberantly romantic and wildly comic tale from the author of Like Water for Chocolate combines inventive printed fiction with Puccini arias on a CD! When a Mexican astroanalyst in the 23rd century searches her past lives for her lover, she encounters many adventures, including the fall of Montezuma and a plot by a reborn Mother Teresa to rule the planet. As the music in the CD releases the past lives, you see those reincarnations unfold dramatically in a series of colorful artwork.