SOURCE: “Revolución interior al exterior: An Interview with Laura Esquivel,” in Southwest Review, Vol. 79, No. 4, Autumn, 1994, pp. 592–607.

In the following interview, which was conducted on July 25, 1993, Loewenstein and Esquivel discuss Como agua para chocolate and its impact on readers and on Esquivel herself.

Author’s note: This interview was conducted on 25 July 1993 in the Spanish School at Middlebury College, where Laura Esquivel was a visiting lecturer. The interview was conducted in Spanish and translated into English by Anne Marie Wiseman.

[Loewenstein:] Laura, your book opens and closes with the weepy, onion scene, and surely you know you have people sobbing in their living rooms and in the movie theaters!

[Esquivel:] That’s true. I think that’s because I am a cry-baby! I think it’s very healthy and it’s liberating for your emotions.

My understanding is that your book has been used by psychotherapists so...