Mexico, a Love Story: Women Write about the Mexican Experience

It is very rare that I enjoy all of the essays in an anthology, but I loved every story in this one. It's also one of those books that I will pick up and re-read, dog-ear, and check out the authors' websites. I liked it that much! The stories here are to savor -- whether it's the lingering taste of Reyna Lingemann's chocolate chip cookies and Laura Fraser's Oaxacan mole amarillo or the sweet feel of Mexico's sugar sand beneath Charish Badzinski's toes and Susan McKinney de Ortega's first delicious dance with a student who would become a central player in her life. This exploration of Mexican life and culture skips about from Oaxaca to Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende to the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. There are stories set in small villages, in slums, in historic colonial cities, in wealthy neighborhoods, and along beautiful stretches of beach. All of the essays have a woman's touch, but every woman is different -- some written by young women (or about a time when the writer was young) and some written by more mature folk. Emotions run high in several of the stories, many a particular mix of love, excitement, and fear. Some women fall in love with one person; all of them fall in love with the place. Suzanne LaFetra is at first unafraid (and naive)as a young, female teacher in a Mexican prison, while Mary Ellen Sanger learns what it's really like on the other side -- to be incarcerated in a Mexican prison. I can't believe I didn't discover this book earlier and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves Mexico, enjoys reading about personal experience with other cultures, or who is planning a trip south of the border. The experiences and insights shared in this little tome are better than the sort of sterile guidebooks that cannot offer even a hint of the "real" Mexico.

I have been considering different options of where to move after retirement. This book intrigued me and I was mesmerized. I literally could not put it down. I didn't miss the maps of the areas as I grew up in California and was familiar with Mexican geography. What these women captured was the essence of Mexican culture and our beautiful and warm hearted neighbors. I'm going to order her books on Italy and France. I anticipate I will be just as satisfied. Don't hesitate to order this book. It's a keeper!

I absolutely loved this book, but then I absolutely love Mexico like most of the writers of these essays. I didn't need maps or help with pronounciation. It was all very touching, true and familiar to me and I think this book would appeal most to those who have traveled in Mexico and especially away from the usual tourist destinations and already know and love the country and especially the people. The common thread in all the stories seems to be the people and their effect on the writer's lives or way of seeing the world. Everyone came away changed in some way and that is what travel is about. If you already know and love Mexico, you will enjoy this book. If not, then maybe it will inspire you to dig a little deeper next time you travel.