Best known for her debut novel, "Like Water for Chocolate," in which a woman channels her feelings into culinary treats, Mexican author Laura Esquivel's works are creative, witty, and entrancing. Frequently utilizing familial love, romance, undercurrents of the supernatural, and the power of desire as underlying themes, Esquivel's novels, frequently set in her native Mexico, are spiced with history, culture, and spiritual insight. Whether her story tells about the destruction of Montezuma's Mexican empire or about an empathetic telegraph operator, Esquivel's sensual stories are deliberately rich in their pacing and rooted in their engaging characters. Start with: "Like Water for Chocolate."
Genre: Domestic fiction; Historical fiction; Literary fiction; Love stories; Magical realism; Mythological fiction; Psychological suspense
Tone: Bittersweet; Romantic
Writing Style: Lyrical; Richly detailed; Witty