My Heart Lies South, Young People's Edition: The Story of My Mexican Marriage (Young Adult) (Paperback)

~ Elizabeth Borton De Trevino (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

What happens when a thoroughly twentieth-century American lady journalist becomes a Mexican señora in nineteen-thirties provincial Monterrey? She finds herselfsometimes hilariouslycoping with serva

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Bethlehem Books (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883937515
• ISBN-13: 978-1883937515
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #719,620 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Her heart lies south of the border, November 25, 2004

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

It would be hard to resist a person who asks, "Shall I sing you a song about love?", and so it's not difficult to see why Elizabeth Borton de Trevino fell for her husband. Their unusual courtship and often hilarious marriage is chronicled in "My Heart Lies South: The Story of my Mexican Marriage," a story of clashing cultures and hysterical family.

She first met her husband Luis in a hotel lobby, while on a writing assignment. After courting her with love songs in a taxi, Elizabeth Borton ended up going home with him to meet his rambuctious family and adoring parents, who approve of the young American "mees" as Luis's future wife. Suddenly Borton found herself living in Mexico -- but with a lot to learn.

At first, Elizabeth struggles to deal with the cultural barriers and how she is being snubbed by the neighbors. But soon she adjusts to her new life, and runs into an ultra-religious cook, troubles with the legality of her marriage, a playboy in-law who falls madly in love with a very proper girl, and finding out how much fun it is to be pregnant in Mexico.

Surprisingly, "My Heart Lies South" is not just an autobiography about Borton de Trevino's "Mexican marriage." It's also a portrait of 1930s Mexico, which was very different from anywhere in the United States -- a place solidly entrenched in old traditions. It wasn't backward. They just did not see any reason to change things like the "Tia" aunts who care for a whole family.

Borton's brisk writing goes pretty quickly, telling stories of young Romeo-and-Juliet lovers, authentic Mexican food and getting drunk in front of her husband's clients. She's funny and self-deprecating, not to mention unafraid of telling the world when she committed some social sin. It's almost like a sitcom, except it was all real.

Perhaps the most endearing thing she shows us is Luis's family -- a sprawling, warm bunch of people who immediately take her under their wings. Particularly likable is Luis's mother Mamacita, and her playboy brother-in-law Roberto. But Borton de Trevino brings everyone to life, right down to the eccentric cooks and kindly judges.

"My Heart Lies South: The Story of My Mexican Marriage" is a thoroughly charming look back in time, where an American woman clashes with Mexican traditions. The results are funny and heartwarming.

4.0 out of 5 stars How Extraordinary and Marvelous!, June 23, 2008

By	Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

Elizabeth Bordon from California, where she graduated from Stanford University, gives us an account of her life in Mexico. She had led a privileged existence and travelled all the way to Boston to study the violin and became an accomplished musician. In the 1950s, a young educated woman who wasn't afraid to travel had three major vocations from which to choose: airline stewardness, telephone operator or newspaper reporter. A more stable job which I tried on occasion was secretary and took more skills. The higher class pay childcare so the "smart" momma can feel fulfilled outside the home.

Ms. Borton was sent into Mexico by the "Boston Herald" and spent five years interviewing film personalities. The photos show her at the ball in Casino of Monterrey, where her duty was to tag after Don Luis Travino from the Chamber of Commerce; she looks almost like me at my first college dance. She was becoming Spanish. I had a nice penpal in Barcelona, Spain. That's about all we had in common except for the fact we left our homes and stayed away for a very long time. Like Jennie Jerome from Brooklyn, a century before, she adopted the country and its restrictive ways, and there was no going back for either. Lady Randolph Churchill became an aristocrat play girl and the mother of Winston Churchill. Both were free spirits with time and money to go wherever they chose.

In Mexico, women did not discuss religiion and politics. Elizabeth taught her two children how to be cultured people, something I wish Christine would attempt with Eric and Alec. Mrs. Churchill was a concert pianist and pushed her only son into politics at an early age, like Victor Ashe's mother did. Her affairs of the heart were similar to Diana's. Young Mr. Churchill became one of the most famous British statesmen of the 20th century. Both had fulfilling and rewarding lives in different parts of the world, something Mark has tried and yet to accomplish. In the Epilogue which was written twenty years after her account of a good life in Mexico, she lists some of the changes taking place on both sides of the border.

She learned by making mistakes and doing what she could. In places, someone would say "You don't know me but I know you," to her -- just as I said to the newly installed mayor, Haslam. She knew Carlos in Monterrey. A nice biography of a woman brave enough to do what I should have, gone to Sabadell, Spain.

5.0 out of 5 stars Reminiscent of Matamoros... and childhood memories, September 18, 2007

By	Delfee "Kids Can Relax" (West Coast, USA) - See all my reviews

This wonderfully authentic depiction of Mexican life and culture was a true joy to read! It took me right back to my childhood.