Malinche

Much like Esquivel's timeless LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, this novel is a magical, spiritual story that highlights the strength of women and the intensity of relationships. Maria Conchita Alonso's musical voice is an ideal vehicle for the telling of a vivid fictionalization of Mexico's history. There are moments when the voice that is positively melodious in one sentence is awkward in others, but it seems to be more the result of the translation than any weakness in Alonso's performance. Alonso effervesces with a rich enthusiasm for both the story and its language, and the result is an engaging, passionate audiobook. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

February 27, 2006
Through the eyes of the historical native woman of the novel's title, Esquivel (Like Water for Chocolate
) reveals the defeat and destruction of Montezuma's 16th-century Mexicas
empire at the hands of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. Malinche, also called Malinalli, was sold into slavery as a child and later became "The Tongue," Cortés's interpreter and lover—remembered by history as a traitor for her contribution to the brutal Spanish triumph. In her lyrical but flawed fifth novel, Esquivel details richly imagined complications for a woman trapped between the ancient Mexicas
civilization and the Spaniards. Esquivel revels in descriptions of the role of ancient gods in native life and Malinalli's theological musings on the similarities between her belief system and Christianity. But what the book offers in anthropological specificity, it lacks in narrative immediacy, even while Esquivel also imagines Cortés's point of view. The author also packs the arc of Malinalli's life into a relatively short novel: she bears Cortés an illegitimate son, marries another Spaniard and has a daughter before her sad demise. The resulting disjointed storytelling gives short shrift to this complex heroine, a woman whose role in Mexican history is controversial to this day. 13-city author tour.