We are so pleased that author Carmen Amato has kindly agreed to
guest blog her selection of fiction set in and around the Museums in Mexico
City……
There you are, strolling through amazing exhibits and you know something’s missing. Like the backstory. Wish you'd known more before going? But there wasn't time. Besides, researching before going to a museum sounds too much like work.
Here are some suggestions for pairing fiction
books with museums in Mexico City. Just like Corona with carnitas! (Click on the covers for more information).
Chapultepec
Castle and The Last Prince of the Mexican
Empire by C.M. Mayo
The
museum: Perched on top of a hill, with sweeping
views over Mexico City’s western sprawl, the fortress-style castle was home to
the ill-fated Emperor Maxmillian I and his empress, Carlota, during the Second
Mexican Empire from 1864 to 1867. You can walk through the rooms, which are
arranged shotgun fashion--each leading into the other--insuring that no one at
the court had much privacy. The gilded, delicate French-style furniture is an
indication just how out of touch the royal court was from real life in Mexico.
Take the trolley from street level up the hill, otherwise you’ll be too
exhausted from the climb to appreciate the museum.
The
book: The
Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo is a fictionalized account
of the Second Mexican Empire seen mostly through the eyes of the American woman
whose son was adopted (or seized depending on your point of view) by the
childless Maxmillian and Carlota in the vain attempt to establish an heir to
the Mexican throne. The book is a real gem and shows off both amazingly
detailed research into the life and times of the Second Mexican Empire and the
author’s ability to create wholly believable historical characters.
The
Palacio Nacional and The Eagle’s Throne
by Carlos Fuentes
The
museum: This long, stately building rises
impressively along one side of Mexico City’s enormous Zócalo central square. It
is a working government building but visitors flock there to see the famous
murals by Diego Rivera that adorn the main stairwell and the walls of the
second floor. Grandly titled "The Epic of the Mexican People," the
murals were painted between 1929 and 1935 and tell Mexico’s story from the
Aztecs to the worker of Rivera’s times. Above the building’s central doorway,
facing the Zócalo, is the main balcony where just before 11:00 pm every 15 September,
the president of Mexico gives el Grito de Dolores, the infamous cry for
independence from Spain originally made by national hero Miguel Hidalgo.
Hidalgo’s church bell from the church of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, hangs
above the balcony.
The
book: The Eagle's Throne by Carlos Fuentes - The murals and the el grito commemoration are
integral parts of Mexio’s turbulent and at times visceral political rivalries
and history. The Eagle’s Throne,
written as a series of letters by a tangled net of political players, is a
masterfully crafted inside look at that political game. The letters reveal the
story bit by tantalizing bit, with allegiances, conflicts, brinkmanship, and
manipulation driving the narrative. An amazingly complex and skillful book,
there is nothing else that so perfectly takes the reader inside Mexico’s
political world. It is a winner of the Cervantes Prize as well.
La
Casa Azul (Frida Kahlo’s house) and The
Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
The
museum: This cobalt blue house in the artsy Coyoacán
suburb of Mexico City was the family home to iconic painter Frida Kahlo and
where muralist Diego Rivera also lived during his stormy marriage to her. Kahlo
and Rivera were socialist sympathizers and la Casa Azul was an intermittant
refuge for Leon Trotsky 1937-39 when he fled Stalin’s Russia. The house
contains numerous Kahlo artifacts and pieces of artwork. An outdoor room built
by Rivera and encrusted with shells shows just how unrestricted the two were in
their creativity.
The
book: The
Lacuna traces the life of a troubled young American man who was raised (by
a free spirit mother) in Mexico City and becomes assistant, chef, and secretary
to Kahlo and Rivera. Rich in imagery, poetic prose, and character development, we
see the conflict and intimate life of the two artists through his own troubled
eyes. Their commitment to Trotsky and his time in Mexico City is the real centerpiece
of the book. I didn’t love the end, but the novel is a dense, lavish telling of
the story of Kahlo and Rivera—and all that had happened in that house.
The
Tamayo Museum and The Hidden Light of
Mexico City by Carmen Amato
The
museum: The Tamayo is the queen of contemporary art
in Mexico, drawing in A-list international artists and fearlessly promoting new
ideas and installations in the art world. A huge curved sign occupies prime
real estate on Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s main drag, advertising the
ever-changing array of exhibits. The building is a piece of glass sculpture, a
nice contrast to its neighbor, the more stolid Anthropology Museum. Well
curated, it is rarely crowded and always gives fresh perspectives. Also, the
small restaurant has very good coffee.
The
book: In The
Hidden Light of Mexico City by Carmen Amato anti-corruption attorney Eddo Cortez Castillo talks
to housemaid Luz de Maria Alba Mora in front of the museum and mistakes her for
an art teacher. Their tour of the museum brings the reader right along, showing
the variety of things one is likely to see in the Tamayo, from video
installations, to 3-D objects of startling variety and materials, to classics
like actual paint on canvas. Like it does to everybody, the Tamayo startled
Eddo and Luz but also hugely entertained, leading to an unforgettable
conversation about life, history, and love. Of course more happens after
that—Eddo’s hunting a corrupt Minister of Public Security and an elusive cartel
leader while Luz’s family implodes—but you’ll have to read the book to see how
it all works out in an ending that takes on Mexican government corruption as
well as the country’s rigid social system.
Carmen Amato is the author of political
thriller THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY and the EMILIA CRUZ mystery series set
in Acapulco. Both draw on her experiences living in Mexico and Central America.
Her blog series GIRL MEETS PARIS captured her adventures while a student in the
City of Light. She currently divides her time between the United States and Central
America.
Visit her website at carmenamato.net where
she blogs about the elements of motive and offers a book club that travels the
world two books at a time. Follow her on Twitter @CarmenConnects.
This
is an update of an article previously posted on camrenamato.net.
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