Structure

The Law of Love's innovative structure intersperses the story with color illustrations by Spanish artist Miguelano Prado and poetry. These pieces illuminate and intensify the action of the story. A CD containing arias by Puccini and Mexican danzones accompanies the novel, which periodically asks the reader to play different tracks. The music, like the illustrations and poems, is an effective tool for pulling the reader into the action of the story, especially one that relies on a fantastic style.

Style

Magic realism is a fictional style, popularized by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, that appears most often in South American literature. Authors who use this technique mingle the fantastic or bizarre with the realistic. Magic realism often involves time shifts, dreams, myths, fairy tales, surrealistic descriptions, the element of surprise and shock, and the inexplicable. Esquivel mixes New Age philosophy and science fiction with magic realism in The Law...