Audiobook · read by volunteers
Life In Mexico
Frances Calderón de la Barca (1804–1882)
Read by Nathalie J. · 56 chapters · 23 h 44
About the book
In 1839 a Scottish-born woman crossed the Atlantic with her husband, the first Spanish minister to the new republic of Mexico, and began to write letters home. Frances Calderón de la Barca saw it all: the arrival at Veracruz, the long road to the capital, balls and bullfights, convents and mines, volcanoes and haciendas, and a country still finding its way after independence. Her eye is quick, her wit sharp and her curiosity wide, so the letters move easily between politics, religion, fashion and landscape. Fifty-six parts, from a glossary of Spanish words to the last letters, are read by one LibriVox volunteer over nearly twenty-four hours. It is a long and richly detailed journey, ideal for travellers in an armchair and for anyone interested in nineteenth-century Mexico.
Introduction
Frances Calderón de la Barca was born in Edinburgh in 1804, the daughter of William Inglis. After her father’s death she settled in America, where she married the Spanish diplomat Don Angel Calderón de la Barca, and she accompanied him to Mexico when he became the first Spanish minister there after independence. She died in 1882.
Life in Mexico, first published in 1843, is the account of her stay, presented as a series of letters to her family. It belongs to the tradition of travel writing and to the history of nineteenth-century Mexico, and it has long been valued by readers and scholars for its detailed observation of society, from the highest circles of the capital to the country towns and haciendas she visited. Her position as the wife of a diplomat gave her unusual access to political and social life, and she describes what she saw with humour and a lively eye for character.
As a foreign visitor of her time she brought her own assumptions, and modern readers will notice judgments about people, religion and customs that reflect her background. The letters are best taken as a personal portrait of a particular moment rather than an objective survey.
The recording has fifty-six parts, beginning with the introduction and preface and a short glossary of Spanish words, and is read throughout by a single LibriVox volunteer. It lasts nearly twenty-four hours. Today it is worth hearing for its vivid scenes, its historical interest and the engaging company of its author.
Public domain
Frances Calderón de la Barca died in 1882: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text