The Book: Miss Del Rio
The Drink: Pisco Sours - with a bonus recipe demonstration from Bárbara.
Miss Del Rio is a fascinating historical novel about a fascinating woman. For readers looking for a setting that isn't World War II Europe, I think you will find this one highly satisfying. Bárbara pulls off a neat magic trick using the POV of a fictional character to tell the story of a real person and to create a deeper, richer sense of the class struggles that created the revolution. The Hollywood details are fascinating as are the early hair salon details - which came from Bárbara's mother's experience.
1910, Mexico. As the country’s revolution spreads, Dolores, the daughter of a wealthy banker, must flee her comfortable life in Durango or risk death. Her family settles in Mexico City, where, at sixteen, she marries the worldly Jaime del Río. But in a twist of fate, at a party she meets an influential American director who recognizes in her a natural performer. He invites her to Hollywood, and practically overnight, the famous Miss del Río is born.
Dolores’s star quickly rises, and her days become a whirlwind of moviemaking and glamorous events. Swept up in L.A.'s glitzy inner circle, she takes her place among film royalty such as Marlene Dietrich and Orson Welles. But as her career soars, her personal life becomes increasingly complicated, with family tragedy, divorce, and real heartache. And when she’s labeled box office poison amid growing prejudice before WWII, Dolores must decide what price she’s willing to pay to achieve her dreams and if her heart and future instead lie where it all began…in Mexico.
Spanning half a century and narrated by Dolores’s fictional hairdresser and longtime friend, Miss del Río traces the life of a trailblazing woman whose legacy in Hollywood and in Mexico still shines bright today.