Like Water for Chocolate
Laura Esquivel, 1989
Fantasy RomanceHistorical fictionContemporary fiction
A young Mexican woman forbidden to marry pours her feeling into food, and everyone who eats it tastes her passion, grief and rebellion. The novel reads like a warm kitchen full of longing, with lyrical prose, family tension, and passion that spills into every dish.
Feels like passion, longing and tenderness. About love, family and freedom.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy love stories steeped in family duty, food, and a touch of magic. The recipes that open each chapter add plenty of kitchen detail, so expect cooking passages between the emotional turns.
Why read it
Its intimate blend of recipe, memory, and desire shows cooking as a way to speak what family rules forbid.
A page from the book
What the last chile on a platter knows about being unwanted.
She felt so lost and lonely. One last chile in walnut sauce left on the platter after a fancy dinner couldn’t feel any worse than she did. How many times had she eaten one of those treats, standing by herself in the kitchen, rather than let it be thrown away. When nobody eats the last chile on the plate, it’s usually because none of them wants to look like a glutton, so even though they’d really like to devour it, they don’t have the nerve to take it. It was as if they were rejecting that stuffed pepper, which contains every imaginable flavor; sweet as candied citron, juicy as pomegranate, with the bit of pepper and the subtlety of walnuts, that marvelous chile in the walnut sauce. Within it lies the secret of love, but it will never be penetrated, and all because it wouldn’t feel proper. Laura Esquivel.Each chapter opens with a recipe—quail in rose petal sauce, chiles in walnut sauce—so the novel can be cooked as well as read.
Books that feel like this
Where to get it
Some of these links earn us a small commission, at no cost to you. It keeps BookFeed free.
Questions readers ask
- Is Like Water for Chocolate for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy love stories steeped in family duty, food, and a touch of magic. The recipes that open each chapter add plenty of kitchen detail, so expect cooking passages between the emotional turns.
- What is Like Water for Chocolate like?
- The novel reads like a warm kitchen full of longing, with lyrical prose, family tension, and passion that spills into every dish. Feels like passion, longing and tenderness. About love, family and freedom.
- What should I read after Like Water for Chocolate?
- If you liked Like Water for Chocolate, try The Last Letter (Rebecca Yarros), Rebel Witch (Kristen Ciccarelli) and Heartless (Marissa Meyer).
A taste of the feed
What it costs to be trusted by someone who has stopped believing.
I would do anything for you.” His eyes locked onto mine in the dashboard lights, intense and a little hurt. “What is it going to take for you to believe me? To trust me? You want my background checked? Do it. You want my credit score? Awesome. My bank account? I’ll add you on. You have my word, my body, my time, and I’m standing here offering my last name. What else can I give you?
The Last Letter · Rebecca Yarros
The one force no regime has ever managed to outlaw.
The problem with love is the more you try to destroy it, the stronger it becomes. It might look like weakness on the surface. But in truth, it’s tougher than steel. Love can’t be controlled. Love can’t obey unjust laws. Love will always oppose tyrants.
Rebel Witch · Kristen Ciccarelli
The moment someone tells you you've changed, and they're right.
Mind my words, Cheshire, I will have you banished from this kingdom if you tempt me.“ ”An empty threat from an empty girl.“ She rounded on him, teeth flashing. ”I am not empty. I am full to the brim with murder and revenge. I am overflowing and I do not think you wish for me to overflow on to you.“ ”There was a time“ – Cheshire yawned – ”when you overflowed with whimsy and icing sugar. I liked that Catherine better.
Heartless · Marissa Meyer
Read pages from books like this, one at a time
Keep reading in the feed