I really really wanted to like this book! Although I was aware of Frida Kahlo's personal challenges--polio as a child, permanent physiological/psychological trauma from a bus accident, a tempestuous marriage-divorce-remarriage to Diego Rivera, depression after a series of miscarriages, etc.--I always admired how one of Mexico's greatest artists was able to translate her painful life experiences into muy vibrante works of art.

And, in the translation from the original Spanish into English, something in this book was lost! In English, Frida's life story is all woodenly told, not dramatically shown as it deserves to be. The most interesting bits of text are the traditional Mexican recipes that are included at the end of each chapter--they amplify the bond between Frida's life experiences and the mystical symbolism inherent in Mesoamerican cuisine...can I offer a slice of surrealism to anyone?

Probably more like 3.5 stars...I enjoyed learning about Kahlo and can't wait to try some of the recipes!

I almost didn't finish this book. It had more potential and I didn't feel it really lived up to it.

This book is a translation from the Spanish novel by F.G. Haghenbeck, a Mexican author, and historian who writes award-winning crime novels, scripts for Superman and other graphic novels. I give you his background because all of it enters into his fascinating fictional account of Frida Kahlo's life.

The book starts out with: "Among Frida Kahlo's personal effects, there was a little black book called 'The Hierba Santa Book'...a recipe collection for offerings on the Day of the Dead...It was to be exhibited for the first time in a monumental exhibition at the Palacio de Bellas Artes on the anniversary of Frida's birth...but the day the exhibition opened...it was discovered that the notebook had vanished."

The author reimagines Kahlo's life and relationships through this secret book and several other notebooks discovered in her home in Mexico. The lives of Georgia O'Keeffe, Leon Trotsky, Nelson Rockefeller, Hemingway, Dalí, and Diego Rivera are featured.

Art, cooking, politics and passion are integral to the story and made for a fascinating read. What detracted from a five star was the male narrator which inserted some 'editorializing'in some parts. This may have been due to translation-I don't know.

At the end of each chapter are Frida's recipes with more up-to-date recipes at the end of the book.

It was a beautiful book for a real fanatic as me, I liked the concept with the recipes and the death following Frida. I could understand that it might not be a perfect literature piece for people who look at it that way, but in my opinion, for what it wanted to be it was very great.

Beautiful :)

I wanted to like this book because I find Kahlo such a compelling artist and woman but it lacked the emotional depth that I would expect from a character like Frida. Half of the book is actual recipes which isn't really a problem but the fictional accounts of what may have happened don't ring true. At times it feels like the book is simply name dropping famous people of the time. It's definitely not one to re-read.

Frida Kahlo (1907 – 1954) has a devoted following and in recent years I’ve read a number of novels based on her life – The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo: A Novel by Mexican writer F. G. Haghenbeck is by far the most enjoyable.

The problem with dead people is that if you’re telling their story there’s not a lot of new material to work with so it can get a bit same-same. For example, while I quite enjoyed The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver I found the plot followed a little too faithfully to the movie Frida for my liking so there was nothing new.

A Love Letter from a Stray Moon by Jay Griffiths is billed as a poetic re-imagining of the life of Frida Kahlo and is certainly lyrical and passionate but left me wanting something with a bit more substance and a bit less reliance on shock value.

In all honesty I was swayed to buy this new re-imagining of Frida Kahlo’s life by the cover, which was designed by Lisa Congdon, a great illustrator and a recent discovery. (She blogged about the book cover)

Haghenbeck tells a compelling, lively and interesting version of Frida Kahlo’s life that picks up familiar occasions and characters but does it in a way that feels fresh and new. There is ground covered here that readers will also find in The Lacuna and A Love Letter from a Stray Moon but it’s ground that’s covered in greater detail, or with more believability than the other two ‘Frida books.’

The genesis of the story – and it’s a great and immediate hook – is the idea that a notebook of Frida’s recipes for the Day of the Dead, which was about to exhibited, has disappeared. The book expresses her passion for Día de Muertos celebrations and includes recipes and the stories associated with them – these recipies are included at the end of each chapter in a way some will find reminiscent of another Mexican-authored book, Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate.

The story features all the Frida highlights - her tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera, the development of her artistic vision, her complex personality, her lust for life and her existential feminism. Her early family life, her affairs with icons like Trotskyand O’Keeffe, her time in USA and life at her Mexican home La Casa Azul are all covered here – but in a context that gives Frida a true personality; in The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo she is more than just an angry woman or a painter strapped to a bed.

I read The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo on the train to and from work. Even if you know nothing about Frida Kahlo this is an interesting and enjoyable novel full of the heat and passion of life, love and food in Mexico. It is easy to get into and compelling enough that you can regularly return to it and quickly and easily pick up the story again.
Read this book if you love Frida Kahlo or just need a bit of daily inspiration.

P.S. Of all the Frida Kahlo books my favourite is definitely The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait (ISBN 9780810959545), which is the reproduction of Frida Kahlo’s diary. It’s well worth looking out if you’re keen to hear from the woman herself.

Leseindruck - Es ist definitiv ein Buch, dass ich hätte in der heißen Jahreszeit hätte lesen sollen.

Schlagwörter: Mexico, Revolution, Kunst, Lebensgeschichte, Erotik, Tod
- verpackt in einem sehr soliden Schreibstil.

I've always loved Frida and I enjoyed this fictionalized (although seemingly pretty accurate) "diary" of hers. I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to know more about this fascinating artist or wants to experience the flavor of Mexican magical-realism.