Our next literary excursion takes us south of the U.S. border into Mexico. As a student, I learned how Mexican literature was shaped by the oral tradition of indigenous people, Spanish colonizers who documented their experiences, and revolution. The complex history makes for a rich text for writers past and present.
I haven’t spent much time in Mexico, and I’m longing to go again—especially to Mexico City. As you can no doubt imagine, libraries and bookstores are high on my list of priority destinations. Independent bookstores abound, and Mexico also hosts the Guadalajara International Book Fair each winter.
As far as literary destinations go, La Biblioteca Nacional de México is part of Mexico City’s University Cultural Center; it was established in 1867 and now boasts a collection of more than 1.3 million documents, including books, maps, and recordings. The architecture and floating shelves of Biblioteca Vasconcelos look so cool on the internet; I’d love to see them in person. For a more colorful option, the psychedelic murals on display at Biblioteca Miguel Lerdo de Tejada are breathtaking; they’re by Russian-Mexican artist Vladimir Víktorovich Kibálchich Rusakov and depict revolutionary scenes through the years.
For those of us ready to indulge in vicarious travel instead, I hope this list will make you even more excited about your next trip or provide an accessible and affordable means of escape via armchair travel. To send you off on your literary adventure, I’m sharing nine books that I’ve read and loved or that are on my To Be Read list written by Mexican and Mexican American authors. There’s no way to include every book set in Mexico on this list, and that’s where you come in: we’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments section!
Literary Tourism: Mexico
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Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies
The Murmur of Bees
Children of the Land: A Memoir
Silver Nitrate
Caramelo
The Hummingbird’s Daughter
The Hacienda
Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter’s Journey Through a Country’s Descent into Darkness
More Than You’ll Ever Know
What are your favorite books set in Mexico by Mexican or Mexican American authors? Please share in the comments.
P.S. 15 books to take you on a vicarious vacation, 11 recommended reads for those traveling to Spain, and more literary tourism.
16 comments
I was hoping you would mention Caramelo, which I read on a trip to Mexico City and adored! Glad to see it there – adding my two thumbs up!!!
I recently added Fonseca to my list. I had never heard of it but the story sounds fascinating and is apparently based on real life events. An English woman pregnant with her third child takes a bus from NYC to Mexico to pursue a possible inheritance?! I wonder if anyone else has read it.
I haven’t read Fonseca yet, but it’s been on my radar because I really enjoyed the author’s earlier book Rules for Visiting.
Just finished Fonseca and loved it. Beautifully written, and really evokes Mexico of the 1950s. I am an admirer of the British author Penelope Fitzgerald, and this is a fictionalized account of an episode in her life.
I have two recommendations. Both are set in a period of revolutionary change in Mexico.
Jack Reed’s account of his time with Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution. In 1914 he covered the revolutionary fighting in Mexico and recorded his impressions in Insurgent Mexico (1914).
You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue is set in the time of the Conquistadors. It is excellent.
If you’re looking for a literary masterpiece, give Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano a try. It takes place in a resort town an hour outside of Mexico City(the real life town is Cuernavaca) over the course of one day. It’s a winner in my opinion!
My favorite novel set in Mexico is Rain Of Gold by Victor Villasenor. It is a fictionalized account of the lives of his parents in Mexico who eventually marry and emigrate to California. I was riveted by this sweeping story.
I have traveled frequently in Mexico and totally enjoyed Paul Theroux’s book, On the Plain of Snakes.
I would like to introduce you to Ana, a precocious 12 year old who is still trying to address the mysterious death of her younger sister years ago. Umami by Laia Jufresa, uses herbs and spices to help explore the grief and memories of Ana and her community. I loved it!!
The Luna Sisters trilogy by Liana De La Rosa (Ana Maria and the Fox, Isabel and the Rogue, Gabriela and His Grace) are historical romance novels about 3 daughters of a top Mexican government official who are spirited away to London to escape Napoleon III’s occupation. My college-age son and I were in Mexico City last month, and having read these books helped me to tie in what we were learning about the city and country’s history when we visited museums!
Both nonfiction: “On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel” or its follow-up, “Mexican Days: Journeys into the Heart of Mexico”, both by Tony Cohan. Good stories of the experiences of people from the USA who move to Mexico.
Loved “ On Mexican Time.” I read it earlier this year during our trip to San Miguel De Allende. We are returning in January, so I will read “ Mexican Days.” Magical reading about a magical place!
I agree with Jeffrey about ‘You dreamed of Empires”. This contrafactual retelling of the meeting between Cortez and Montezuma is both surreal and ultra realistic. Glad to come across another fan of this book.
“Horizontal Vertigo” by Juan Villoro is a homage to Mexico City by a Mexican Journalist who lives there. I’ve only dipped into it as I’m attempting to read some of the vignettes in Spanish (My Spanish may not be up to it.) but I’ve enjoyed it so far. Lots of interesting people, places, ceremonies, and more.
Carlos Fuentes “Novel in 9 stories”, “The Crystal Frontier” chronicles the live of people, powerful and powerless, crossing the US Mexico border for various reasons – excellent.
“Signs Preceding the End of the World” by Mexican author Yuri Herrera. Another border story with magical realism. Winner of 2016 Best Translated Book in Fiction award. Read this awhile back and it has more than a little but delightful weird to it.
I love this post Anne. I’m looking forward to trying some of these that I haven’t read.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins was a totally engrossing read, and I loved it. It shows the violence that has accompanied the rise of drug cartels in Mexico, as one young mother and her small son flee very real threats to their lives. It does depict the violence and the overwhelming fear that many Mexicans are dealing with now. But I am glad to see so many books mentioned here that show more positive aspects of Mexico. Both the current violence and the beauty of the Mexican culture are part of Mexican life for now.
I know American Dirt had controversy attached to it but wow, that was a GOOD STORY!!! I learned so much and I especially liked hearing it on audio and all the Spanish pronunciations. They, and this book, lingered with me for so long.
The Lacuna by Barbra Kingsolver. My favourite book ever. The audio version is narrated by Kingsolver – just sublime. “My stars, Mr Harrison.”
Not a book that makes you want to travel to Mexico City, but one of the best nonfiction books I’ve read about Mexico, Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza, is a book I highly recommend for anyone wanting to understand the machismo mentality that existed during the time of Liliana’s murder. Rivera Garza, as Liliana’s story through her perspective, those of friends and other family members. It’s a difficult story to read, but worth the read.
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