LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE

I'd read it years ago, I'd seen the movie (at the time the highest grossing foreign film ever in the US). Still, I not only enjoyed the reread, but saw the book somewhat differently. Magical events take place in the lives of regular people - Tita and Pedro. They share a powerful love that is opposed by the iron-willed family matriarch Mama Elena, whose belief in cruel traditions fuels her mistreatment of her youngest daughter. Tita's rebellion grows in parallel with the Mexican revolution - neither of which Mama Elena can keep in check.