Born in 1950 in Mexico, Laura Esquivel began her career as a screenwriter in partnership with her husband at the time, the director Alfonso Arau. Like Water for Chocolate was Esquivel’s first novel, and it almost immediately propelled her to international fame, with translations into over 30 languages and some 3 million copies sold worldwide. The 1992 film based on the book, whose screenplay was written by Esquivel herself, became the largest grossing foreign film ever released in the United States. Simultaneously defending traditional female activities while subverting stereotypical notions of femininity, Like Water for Chocolate shows how revolutionary historical processes can also resonate in everyday life.
The Mexican Revolution. The Mexican Revolution (1910-20) brought profound political and economic change to Mexico. The revolution was rooted in the changes created by rapid economic growth under the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz (1876-1911). During this period, economic development was achieved at the cost of brutal repression, foreign control of most industries, and increasing social polarization. Burgeoning middle classes sought political and economic advancement from which they were largely barred by the entrenched political establishment of the Porfirian regime.
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