This extraordinary memoir by Concha Lombardo de Miramón is the only known autobiography written by a nineteenth-century Mexican woman. In it she recounts her life from her birth in Mexico City to the beginning of her long European exile following her husband's execution for supporting Maximilian, the ill-fated Austrian prince who established an empire in Mexico. Now available for the first time in English, translated and edited by Silvia Marina Arrom, it offers rich insight into Mexico's past from a female perspective. Concha provides not only eyewitness accounts of Mexico's bitter civil wars and leading political figures, but also lively anecdotes of daily life that both confirm and question stereotypes about women and gender. Readers will enjoy, and relate to, her accounts of family secrets, childhood mischief, possessive boyfriends, marital spats, practical jokes, daring escapades, and, finally, a love story that ends in tragedy.

‘Mexican women, unlike their American or English counterparts, generally did not write memoirs, so if we could only have one, we are fortunate that it was written by the lively, witty, and observant Concha Lombardo de Miramón. Silvia Marina Arrom brought her unparalleled understanding of nineteenth-century Mexican women to this excellent translation and insight-packed introduction.’

Margaret Chowning - University of California, Berkeley

‘Translated and skillfully edited by the historian who probably knows nineteenth- century Mexican women best, A Feisty Woman paints a fascinating portrait of an unsettled society trying to find its way between the old and the new.’

Erika Bano - El Colegio de México

‘A rare opportunity to experience the crosscurrents of daily life and national history, where children are born, prayers offered, and families sustained through turmoil and peace. Silvia Marina Arrom’s elegant translation and incisive introduction guide the reader to fresh insights into nineteenth-century Mexico.’

Susie S. Porter - University of Utah