Synopsis

In sixteenth-century Mexico, a fearless young woman strives to uncover the secrets her mother kept as the last Aztec empress in a sweeping historical epic by the author of Daughter of Fire.

Tenochtitlan, 1551. Thirty years after the Spanish Conquest destroyed everything she loved, the last Aztec empress has passed and left behind a pristine yet tenuous legacy for her children. As her last will and testament is read out, her daughter Isabel suspects that another account of her mother’s life may exist, hidden away chapter by chapter in the Valley of Mexico. Following each clue, Isabel is determined to find out who her mother really was and to discover the secrets she buried in order to survive.

Joined by her siblings and a handsome young cook named Juan, the party embarks on a perilous journey to piece together the past―a journey that will force them to brave the brutal viceroyal court, face fearsome legends in mystical chinampas, and trek through desert, fire, and snow. As Isabel’s feelings for Juan grow, she confronts everything she thought she knew about her Spanish father, her empress mother, and herself. From the tunnels of ancient pyramids to the summit of an active volcano, Isabel will meet every challenge to fulfill an epic quest for the truth.

THE OTHER MOCTEZUMA GIRLS is the perfect blend of great storytelling, memorable and diverse characters, and a fantastic historical adventure that will leave you breathless!

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Interview with Sofia

What inspired you to write THE OTHER MOCTEZUMA GIRLS?

As I researched my debut novel Daughter of Fire, I came across the story of Tecuichpoch, the last empress of the Mexica (more commonly known today as the Aztecs). She was baptized with the Spanish name, Isabel Moctezuma, and not only survived the smallpox epidemic that killed 90% of the population, a siege during the Spanish conquest, six marriages, and giving birth to seven children, but also managed to sue the Spanish Crown successfully enough that she ended up being the wealthiest landowner in New Spain. She left behind a will that was highly contested by all her children, and which tore her family apart.

For years, I could not get her or her testament out of my mind. I clearly remember thinking of her as I gave birth to my son four and a half years ago, so she has been with me for a long time. I simply find it appalling that people don’t know who she is, that she has been relegated to the sidelines of history, and I am on a mission to make sure as many people as possible know and are inspired by her story as I have been.

How did your background influence the writing of this novel?

Mexico is one of the greatest loves of my life. I spent most of my childhood there, but I left at the age of ten due to my father’s work, and for the last twenty or so years, I have pined after my country. There’s a saying that goes, ‘you can take the Mexican out of Mexico, but you can never take Mexico out of the Mexican.’ And it’s true – for years I’ve felt a desperate yearning to write Tecuichpoch’s story, because I see her as the original mother of Mexico, and I wanted to honor her, come home to her, and to the other important female figures and goddesses that have shaped the messy and complicated roots of our nation.

I was born in Mexico City, so this novel became a love letter to my place of birth as well, to the lakes that have been nearly totally drained, and the beautiful mountains, volcanoes, and forests that we take for granted. I wanted to write about so many things I think are important to our sense of identity as Mexicans, like our complicated family ties, the origins of our incredible cuisine, our mixed Indigenous, European, and African lineage – I wanted to express this simultaneous sense of loss and love that I have felt since I was uprooted and moved away.

What kind of research did you do to recreate so vividly 16th-century Mexico?

The research for this novel was intense and built on a lot of the foundations I had established with my previous novel, Daughter of Fire. However, unlike Daughter of Fire, which relates more to the Maya in the 16th century in Guatemala, I was now focusing on a completely different civilization, the Mexica. To build this new picture, I obviously read as many books as I could – not only on the Mexica and Isabel Moctezuma (there are sadly not many books about her), but also on the customs and ways of life in 16th-century Mexico, both pre- and post-colonization.

I took pages of research notes and references on all the additional evidence-based articles that I read, both in English and Spanish. I had thousands of questions – what did people wear? What textiles did they use? How did they carry water? How did they swear at each other? What plants and foods were actually there at the time? What goods were imported? I had to look at many maps of the Valley of Mexico and Tenochtitlan at the time, consider the topography and geography of the place, and how it was five hundred years ago.

I went back to Mexico City in 2023 and visited several museums, including the Museo Nacional de Antropologia and the Museo del Templo Mayor in Mexico City, which are just incredible places and so informative on everything related to the Mexica ways of life and religion. I also went to the London National Gallery’s José María Velasco exhibition, to see his stunning landscape paintings of the Valley of Mexico – even though he completed his works in the 19^th century, the lakes had not yet been totally drained then, so it gave me a sense of perspective of the valley, the colors, geology, and local flora.

There was a lot of “experiential” research, too. I love this type of ground research because it gives me that sensory information that history books lack sometimes, and really makes the setting come alive. I took several workshops – one which took me canoeing around the remaining lake and chinampas in Xochimilco to learn about the 700-year-old system of agriculture the Mexica used – and another with a chef who is an expert in pre-Hispanic food.

I walked around the forest of Chapultepec, and I hiked the foot of the volcano of Iztaccihuatl with my sister and an expert mountain guide – whom I interviewed to get a sense of what it felt like to summit the volcano. I also wanted to go to Teotihuacan and to the Shrine of Guadalupe again (I’ve been before in previous years), and experience a temazcal ceremony first-hand, but I ran out of time. Nevertheless, I got a fabulous second-hand account from my sister, who has done quite a few of them. It was an incredible amount of work!

What is the main message you hope readers will gain from this novel?

In essence, this book is about the lengths a daughter will go to keep her mother’s memory alive. It’s about honoring a Mexican queen who was used as a pawn and then erased from history. It’s about coming of age and discovering the sometimes ugly truth of who your family really is. It’s about the simultaneously healing and destructive power of family. It’s about keeping our Indigenous stories and myths alive despite five centuries’ worth of attempts at erasing them.

About the Author

Sofia Robleda is a Mexican author. She spent her childhood and adolescence in Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. She completed her undergraduate and doctorate degrees in psychology at the University of Queensland, in Australia. She currently lives with her husband and son in London.

Her debut historical fiction novel, Daughter of Fire, was an Amazon First Reads and Editor’s Pick for July 2024 and a top 100 Kindle bestseller. It has been translated into Spanish.

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