“This is either the longest suicide note in history or the juiciest, dirtiest, most delicious confession you’ll ever hear.” So begins the first novel from Josefina López.

A young American journalist—jaded by war and censorship—breaks off an engagement and heads to Paris to find herself again. She enrolls in a cooking school in order to get a visa, and it turns out cooking school provides just the sort of spiritual awakening she needed.

López is probably best known for her play (and later, the screenplay) “Real Woman Have Curves.” Listen as Maria Hinojosa talks with López about her debut novel Hungry Woman in Paris.

Right click here to download an .mp3 of this segment.