Laura Esquivel

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Laura Esquivel (born September 30, 1950) is a Mexican author. She was born the third of four children of Julio César Esquivel, a telegraph operator, and his wife Josefina, in Mexico City. She first became a kindergarten teacher by trade, then a novelist, then a screenwriter. Her novels include Like Water for Chocolate and Swift as Desire.

Especially in Like Water for Chocolate, she uses magical realism to combine the ordinary and the supernatural. The novel shows the importance of the kitchen in Esquivel's life, which was introduced to her from her grandmother. In fact, Esquivel feels that the kitchen is the most important part of the house^{[citation needed]}, as it is a source of knowledge and understanding that brings pleasure.

It is a testament to her skill as a writer that Like Water for Chocolate translated so easily to the screen.The title, Like Water for Chocolate, refers to the boiling water used to prepare hot chocolate in Mexico. In the United States, where the film and book were released simultaneously in 1993, Like Water for Chocolate became one of the largest grossing foreign films ever released in the US. In her native country, it won Ms. Esquivel the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures award; she received eleven in all, from Ariel awards.

The film adaptation of Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico, 1992) was directed by her husband, Alfonso Arau. Together they had had one child, Sandra. Unfortunately, the success did nothing to improve their marriage. After twelve years together, she sued Arau in New York's State Supreme Court over film profits.She claimed that he did not give her the 5% of the movie profits that had been promised to her. Needless to say, the marriage did not last.

In addition to magical realism, Ms. Esquivel has explored a variety of literary genres. Like Water for Chocolate and her most recent novel, La Malinche are both historical novels, taking place in the nineteenth century and the sixteenth, respectively. La Malinche especially, is an ambitious peek into Mexico's past. This work of historical fiction sheds light on La Malinche, who is known in Mexican history as a whore and a traitor. In the novel, however, she is characterized as a strong woman: an ambassador and a genius.

Esquivel has even taken a jump into the future with The Law of Love, which takes place in twenty-third century Mexico City. The theme of romantic love, particularly love thwarted, appears repeatedly throughout her novels, as does the setting in Mexico. The century may vary but never the country.

These days, she divides her time between New York and Mexico City where she lives with her new husband, Javier Valdez, a dentist. She and former husband Arau have mended their relationship and are discussing collaboration on a new film.