The Mixquiahuala Letters

This book was highly recommended to me a while back, and I quickly added it to my wish list as it looked exactly like the kind of book I love to read. Honestly, I'd say this book was a disappointment. All the men were losers, manipulative or abusive or cruel. The women seemed to wander from man to man, from loser to loser. And that was the plot of the book. The two main characters in the book write letters to each other, bemoaning the men in their lives and celebrating their strength as powerful women. I didn't see any powerful women in this book. Instead, I saw women who defined themselves over and over in terms of whether or not they had a man. In the book's defense, the copyright date is 1986, so perhaps the characters in that time show more frame in that culture were revolutionary. I wouldn't recommend this book, not even to women friends who are part of this culture. show less

Recommended to everyone male and female but more for females. This book I have since recently loaned to Vanessa. I have read it about 6 times. Speaks a lot on the depth of female relationships, friendship, heartaches, life, etc. etc. The format in which it is written makes for a wonderful read if you are one who enjoys not only reading but reading letters.

From the Publisher
Focusing on the relationship between two fiercely independent women—Teresa, a writer, and Alicia, an artist—this epistolary novel was written as a tribute to Julio Cortázar's Hopscotch and examines Latina forms of love, gender conflict, and female friendship. Ana Castillo's groundbreaking first novel, The Mixquiahuala Letters, received an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation and is widely studied as a feminist text on the nature of self-conflict.

From The Critics
Irene Carr - Belles Lettres
Every time I read The Mixquiahuala Letters I savor the beautiful prose, become absorbed in the inevitable conflicts, and find new insights in the reflections of a woman who is caught between her desire to be show more free of societal expectations and her own internalized constrictions. show less