It seems impossible to believe, but during the nineteenth century, Mexico had a Belgian emperor and empress for three years, from 1864-1867. Emperor Maximilian I and Empress Carlota (Charlotte) were installed as rulers of the Second Mexican Empire by conservative Mexicans and Napoleon III. "The Madness of Mama Carlota" entwines the story of the factual Empress Carlota with three fictional sisters, Indians of the Chontal tribe, Tila, Chelo, and Lula. These three sisters have no recollection of their parents or their origins. As children they wander onto Hacienda La Perla in Cholula, Mexico. They become cooks and servants in the household. Ten years later, when they are in their early twenties, Lula is raped by the youngest brother of the patron. After the women take their revenge, they must flee. They end up in Mexico City just as the emperor and empress arrive and they become servants in the National Palace. They eventually become Carlota's personal maids and her most trusted companions.

Author Graciela Limon skillfully weaves the story of the young Chontal sisters with that of Empress Carlota. Limon conveys the exotic beauty of Mexico, including the beauty and strength of the Chontal sisters. Carlota loves Mexico from the first moment. Some of the most evocative passages in the book describe the sights and sounds of both Mexico City and rural Cuernavaca, where the emperor and empress have a house. However, the Mexicans resent the Belgian rulers and Benito Juarez is determined to drive them out. Soon after they arrive, those who installed Maximilian begin to lose interest and withdraw their support. Limon portrays Carlota's frustration with her marriage and her inability to fulfill her ambitions as a ruler. She runs afoul of the Catholic Church, for example, when she suggests that they share their wealth with the Mexican people. History tells us that Carlota went mad in Mexico and never regained her sanity. She was confined to Castle Bouchout for the last 60 years of her life. But Limon builds a plausible argument that Carlota was not mad at all: "She was too strong, too influential and too outspoken. She would not keep silent about who had brought the Mexican Empire to its knees. She was, they all agreed, someone who had forgotten her place as a woman, and they did nothing to disarm the indidious gossip tht she had gone mad, because it fit into their agenda to silence her" (p. 158).

I read this book in one day because I could not put it down. Limon's knowledge of the indigenous people of Mexico strenghtens the novel, bringing in a multitude of cultural details that lend authenticity to the narrative. But it is the characters that stand out, including Mexico itself. Although Tila, Chelo, and Lula are fictional, it seems entirely reasonable that women such as these might have formed a life-long bond with the tragic empress who fell in love with Mexico. ( )