Book reviews - Laura Esquivel Like Water for Chocolate and Rosamund Pilcher - Under Gemini

Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel


Like Water for Chocolate has been around for quite some time apart from being made into a film (which I have not seen). For me this was a bit of an odd book! The story revolves around a family of three girls and a matriarch for a mother who is a tyrant
as well. The story is set in Mexico and the background is conservative and traditional.

Tita being the youngest daughter is forbidden to marry as she would have to look after her mother in her old age. With all the strictures in place Tita falls in love with Pedro who is destined to marry her older sister. He does get married to her and continues to be in love with Tita till the end. There is also a younger sister who runs away, ends up in a brothel but lives happily ever after! Found that a bit improbable but anyway.... There is also a lot of cooking and receipes which are family traditions which add to the general mix.

I read the book in one go so I suppose I found it interesting but my response to this book was lukewarm. I guess I couldnt go for so many improbabilities and accept them for what they were.




Under Gemini - Rosamund Pilcher

This seems to have been a week for improbable happenings in books. Identical twins
separated at birth meet up through an absolute freakish coincidence in London. The story actually takes off from there and this is 70 pages into the story.

The story revolves around Flora and Rose and how Flora impersonates Rose through one weekend and one week of a supposed engagement. The story also covers a close knit, warm family in Scotland and is descriptive of a part of Scotland which made me want to run away from hot humid Sri Lanka to the misty, rain swept world in which Tuppy and her family live.

I loved the settings of the book, both in Cornwall where Flora lived with her father and stepmother and then on to Edinburgh and finally to Fernrigg.

The plot was simple and straightforward and the story ends with a happy ever after theme which was satisfying for this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the book - its very readable.