“Stevens has captured the nuanced nature of the daily lives of nineteenth-century Mexicans by transforming the dry numbers of births, marriages, and burials into an enjoyable narrative capable of presenting a portrait of how people lived, loved, and died. Stevens offers insights into Mexicans’ attitudes toward Catholic doctrine and practice and their ideas about gender, children, marriage, class, and sociability by deftly weaving extensive archive work in parish records with engaging tales from literature and memoirs.”—Michael T. Ducey, author of A Nation of Villages: Riot and Rebellion in the Mexican Huasteca, 1750–1850
