"…Estrada does us a favour in correcting the 'troubled' image given to readers by other popular modern works that are not careful with history or friendly toward women who step into the public sphere." — Bulletin of Spanish Studies"This book is indispensable for scholars of Mexican literature, in particular those focusing on women and gender studies." — CHOICE"A leading scholar on gender and literature, Oswaldo Estrada delivers a thorough, rigorous, and exciting account on the persistence of female icons in contemporary culture. Steeped in his deep knowledge of Mexico's cultural history, Estrada's book is a key contribution to questions of gender, iconicity, and the interrelations between popular and literary culture—a must read for scholars and students." — Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, author of Strategic Occidentalism: On Mexican Fiction, the Neoliberal Book Market, and the Question of World Literature"By studying the way some of the most prominent female Mexican icons of all time have been reimagined in contemporary fiction and transformed into objects of consumerism, symbols of national identity, and memories of the past, this book fills a dire need in the Mexican studies field. The scholarship is exemplary, the style is impeccable, and reading the author is a pleasure." — Patricia Saldarriaga, Middlebury College