María Ignacia Rodríguez de Velasco y Osorio Barba (1778-1850) is an iconic figure in Mexican history. Known by the nickname "La Güera Rodríguez" because she was so fair, she is said to have possessed a remarkably sharp wit, a face fit for statuary, and a penchant for defying the status quo. Charming influential figures such as Simon Bolívar, Alexander von Humboldt, and Agustín de Iturbide, she utilized gold and guile in equal measure to support the independence movement--or so the stories say.

In La Güera Rodríguez, Silvia Marina Arrom approaches the legends of Rodríguez de Velasco with a keen eye, seeking to disentangle the woman from the myth. Arrom uses a wide array of primary sources from the period to piece together an intimate portrait of this remarkable woman, followed by a review of her evolving representation in Mexican arts and letters that shows how the legends became ever more fanciful after her death. How much of the story is rooted in fact, and how much is fiction sculpted to fit the cultural sensibilities of a given moment in time? In our contemporary moment of unprecedented misinformation, it is particularly relevant to analyze how and why falsehoods become part of historical memory. La Güera Rodriguez will prove an indispensable resource for those searching to understand late-colonial Mexico, the role of women in the independence movement, and the use of historic figures in crafting national narratives. "La Güera Rodríguez is a well-paced, well-written story of one of Mexico's most interesting and controversial women. It will fascinate experts, history fans, and undergraduates alike, and it will thrill teachers, not only with its abundance of angles for re-interpreting Mexican history and women's roles in it, but also for Arrom's smart and insightful dissection of the ways La Güera's life story was--and continues to be--manipulated by contemporaries and historians after her death."--Margaret Chowning, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley

"Writing an important and long overdue book for Mexican history, Silvia Marina Arrom has carried out a truly herculean task ferreting out the facts in archives, newspapers, memoirs, travel accounts, and other nineteenth-century primary and secondary sources to skillfully construct and bring to life the true history of La Güera Rodríguez, leaving the hoary myths by the wayside."--Francie R. Chassen-López, author of From Liberal to Revolutionary Oaxaca: The View from the South, Mexico 1867-1911

"La Güera Rodríguez exposes the vicissitudes of life for women in Mexico in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: the high stakes of family politics in battles over land and inheritance, marriage, domestic violence, religious faith, and strategic alliances with Church authorities. While historians have addressed the themes raised in this book, they have not done so with the detail we get from reading the history of a life as it unfolds. This book is beautifully written, striking a balance between historical context, biographical details, and the politics of memory. It does important work in revealing the way women's history has been devalued through construing female historical figures as famous for their sexual freedom."-- Susie S. Porter, author of From Angel to Office Worker: Middle-Class Identity and Female Consciousness in Mexico, 1890-1950