Like Water for Chocolate

Laura Esquivel

Nov 1993 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Kate Reading

About this audiobook

Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Mexico became a bestselling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. The classic love story takes place on the De la Garza ranch, as the tyrannical owner, Mama Elena, chops onions at the kitchen table in her final days of pregnancy. While still in her mother’s womb, her daughter-to-be weeps so violently she causes an early labor, and little Tita slips out amid the spices and fixings for noodle soup. This early encounter with food soon becomes a way of life, and Tita grows up to be a master chef. She shares special points of her favorite preparations with listeners throughout the story.

Ratings and reviews

Love this story and to hear it narrated clearly made me love it even more. Don't listen while hungry--the recipes will make you want to cook it yourself. A magical realism story about love and food.

About the author

Laura Esquivel is the award-winning author of Like Water for Chocolate, which has sold more than four and a half million copies around the world in 35 languages, as well as The Law of Love, and most recently, Between Two Fires. She lives in Mexico City.

Kate Reading is the recipient of three AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has narrated everything from Patricia Cornwell to George Eliot. Her favorite BOT recordings include Like Water for Chocolate, Middlemarch, and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Times series, which she narrated with her husband, Michael Kramer.