Like the characters in her book, she mixes politics, protest and knitting.ĮSQUIVEL: I started knitting in the Congress, and it was an scandal - like big scandal. KAHN: At 65, Esquivel just finished the second in a trilogy she's writing continuing the saga of Tita in 'Like Water For Chocolate.' And since last year, she's become a politician, appointed to a congressional seat for the upstart leftist party Morena. Now I don't have enough time, but I love to do it.

On the top floor, a huge hutch with 90 drawers fills the entire wall.ĮSQUIVEL: And I have of course my crystals (laughter) and I love to work. In the back patio, she's building a mosaic floor made from recycled materials. Every room in her stunning Mexico City home is filled with projects. In 'Pierced By The Sun,' Lupita is a knitter too and, not surprisingly, so is writer Esquivel, as well as an avid crafter. Tita, denied her true love, finds solace in the kitchen and in knitting. KAHN: In this scene, the tyrannical matriarch declares her daughter will never marry, dooming her to serve her mother until death. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, speaking Spanish). (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, 'LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE') KAHN: Tita is the suffering heroine in Esquivel's breakout novel, later made into a movie, 'Like Water For Chocolate.' But despite her self-destructive ways, she's strong, fighting cultural stereotypes and traditions, not unlike Esquivel's most famous leading lady, the last girl born to a traditional family in 1900s Mexico. KAHN: In Lupita, Esquivel personifies Mexico's troubles - the crime, corruption and drugs. And now the narcos and the narco politicians are ruling society. LAURA ESQUIVEL: In this moment, everything is so corrupt, so dangerous. The witness is Lupita, a policewoman caught up in the violence of one of Mexico City's poorest neighborhoods, says writer Laura Esquivel. As NPR's Carrie Kahn reports, Esquivel wants redemption for her character and her country.ĬARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: 'Pierced By The Sun' opens with a murder.

Her novel 'Pierced By The Sun' - just out in English - has a female protagonist who battles crooked politicians, criminal gangs, as well as her own demons. Now author Laura Esquivel is tackling crime and corruption in modern day Mexico. The novel, 'Like Water For Chocolate,' was popularized as an art house movie back in the 1900s. Let's catch up with a writer best known for her tale of forbidden love and sensual Mexican cooking.

Like water for chocolate book author