Jane Rosenthal

Before turning her hand to novel writing, Jane Rosenthal was as a radio journalist, a bilingual reporter and finally as an English and creative writing teacher.

Twitter: @MexicoNovels

Instagram: @JaneRosenthalAuthor

Do you speak a second language? Do you think differently in that language? Does it influence your writing?

I speak Spanish as I lived in Mexico City in high school and have continued to spend a great deal of time there off and on. Lots of important firsts happened for me in that language--- first time in a large cosmopolitan city (the Paris of Latin America, as my mother called it) first love, first political demonstration, first tacos, you name it. Do I think differently in that language? Absolutely! In fact, I feel different in that language. I’m more open, express my thoughts and feelings with greater passion. I don’t know whether it’s because the minute I push through the doors of customs at Benito Juarez airport I find myself in touch with the teenage girl I was, or whether it’s the language. At any rate, I relax into Spanish like a comfortable sweater. It’s a language that feels like home to me. Since, my books take place partly in Mexico, the language, and everything about culture that is contained in the language, influences my writing

What piece of clothing tells an interesting story about your life?

Not only does speaking Spanish make me feel different, being in Mexico affects my wardrobe choices, too. Once there, I always wear my rebozos, the shawls that I have been collecting for years. The one you see in my author photo comes from Santa Maria del Rio in San Luis Potosi, one of the places famous for its silk rebozos. I actually bought this one in Oaxaca after visiting the artist Rodolfo Morales in his studio in Ocotlan. The bus dropped me off near the big market next to the Zocolo in Oaxaca city. I was wandering around looking at this and that, and one of the vendors, perceiving that I was knowledgeable about these things, went behind a curtain and came out with a box that held this beautiful purple rebozo. I’ve always cherished this one as a memory of that day in Ocotlan with a brilliant artist.

Do I collect anything? If so, what and for how long?

I have been collecting Mexican art and folk art since the sixties. I have several works from the artist, Rodolfo Morales, that I mentioned above, and along with rebozos, I collect Mexican silver jewelry from famous jewelry designers of the forties and fifties—the golden age of Mexican silver jewelry--- artists like Matilde Poulat and Hector Aguilar. The silver necklace I’m wearing in the author photo is made by William Spratling, an American who came to Mexico in the thirties, created the silver department in Sanborns and trained many extraordinary artisans in Taxco. I’m always on the hunt for these iconic pieces of jewelry, created during that exciting time in Mexican art.

Is there a work of art that you love? Why? Have you ever visited it in person?

There are many works of art that I love. A few years ago, in the pre-Covid era, I was in Paris at the Orsay and found myself moved to tears by Van Gogh’s painting Starry Night. It really took my breath away that I was literally standing one foot from that magnificent painting and able to see every exquisite brush stroke. But since I am such a Mexicophile, on the same trip to Paris, I also attended an exhibit of Mexican Modernism at the Musee de l’Orangerie of the great paintings of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Siqueiros and so on. All that being said, the work of art I love the most, is Frida’s Casa Azul--- her home. I was lucky enough to see it before she became a cult figure and crowds descended on the place. Every domestic, homey, quotidian place and thing in that house Frida had made into art. She turned her whole, painful, difficult life into art.  It’s the way I hope, at the end of the day, to have lived my life.

Is your go to comfort food sweet or savory? Is it something you make yourself? Does food inspire your writing?

Actually, my novels inspire my cooking! Invariably, when I am writing about Mexico, I will start craving food unique to the region I’m writing about. In Del Rio, part of the action takes place on the Pacific west coast, so spicy shrimp in any form— soups, tacos, you name it—was   on the menu. Now, the setting for the book I’m writing is the Yucatan, so the food from the Yucatan peninsula is inspiring me. I’m re-visiting Diana Kennedy’s famous cookbook, The Art of Mexican Cooking, a must-read for someone who wants to know about Mexico’s World Heritage designated cuisine. Now, I’m off to the kitchen to make huevos motulenos with chiltomate sauce---a super easy dish of a fried corn tortilla, refried black beans, topped with a fried egg, covered with spicy tomato sauce and sprinkled with crumbled queso fresco. All you need is an ice-cold beer with lime and the sound of the Caribbean sea lapping at the shore!