Q&A with Sofia Robleda

  

 

 

Sofia Robleda is the author of the new novel The Other Moctezuma Girls. She also has written the novel Daughter of Fire. Also a psychologist, she is originally from Mexico and lives in London. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Other Moctezuma Girls?

 

A: 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 percent 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.

 

Q: How did you research the novel, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: 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 focussing 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 went back to Mexico City in 2023 and visited several museums. 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. It was an incredible amount of work!

 

I’m not sure if there was much that really “surprised” me from my research, per se, as there was a lot of overlap with the research I’d conducted from my debut novel on the 16th century history of Guatemala and the K’iche’ Maya.

 

However, there were many facts that touched and saddened me. The fact that only 2 percent of the lakes in Mexico City remain, for example, because they were drained by the Spanish and Mexican governments. That is something I continue to be devastated by and think about often.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The book title was chosen after a conversation with my agent, Johanna Castillo, who was originally an editor and is just brilliant.

 

It happened many years ago, before my debut was published, perhaps 2022 even, so I can’t remember the full details, but we were talking about how much I love Philippa Gregory, and how I wanted to break ground like she had done with 16th century England, and bring 16th century Mexico to the world stage.

 

We were talking about the overlap between the Tudors and the Moctezuma/Cortes court in terms of the intrigues and the women who have been sidelined from the historical narrative.

 

I’m not sure if we were discussing titles, or what we were saying but I must’ve said something like, “I want to write The Other Boleyn Girl for Mexico. I want the Moctezumas to be as well-known as the Tudors. I want to be the Mexican Philippa Gregory,” and she said, “Well, call it that, then! Call it The Other Moctezuma Girl.” And because there’s more than one in the novel, we made it plural.

 

Q: The author Mariely Lares called the book “a superb reclamation of history rarely seen through the ends of women who endured, researched intelligently and written with heart.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Mariely is an incredibly talented author of two gorgeous historical fantasy novels set in Mexico, and she is just as invested as me in deep-diving when researching her novels so it was a relief that she felt this way.

 

She was one of the first people to read The Other Moctezuma Girls, because of how much I value her opinion and her expertise. I feel like her words sum up what I was trying to achieve, so it is humbling to think I may have done it.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: There’s a very intriguing character in this novel that makes a plot-twisting appearance, and they’re someone I’d like to learn about and explore a bit further.

 

Once I have a bit more time, in between raising my son, and working part-time as a clinical psychologist, and editing/promoting this novel, I’m hoping I can get back into researching them and their life, and write my next novel!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: This book was written out of my deep love of Mexico and our people, and it fills me with a deep sense of anger and sadness that it is coming out at a time when Mexicans and Latines are being harassed, rounded up, abused and scapegoated in the United States.

 

I hope that those who read it are touched by and buoyed by the pride, strength, and resilience of Tecuichpoch and her daughters. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Sofia Robleda.