Foreign Fiction - Playa Del Carmen

There must be hundreds of novels by outsiders set in Mexico, all too many in the sex-and-shopping genre: apart from those below, others to look out for include a whole clutch of modern Americans, especially Jack Kerouac 's Desolation Angels (Flamingo/Riverhead) and several of Richard Brautigan's novels. And of course there's Carlos Castañeda 's Don Juan series (Arkana/Pocket Books) - a search for enlightenment through peyote.

Taisha Abelar , The Sorcerer's Crossing (Penguin). The extraordinary true story of an American woman who joins an all-female group of sorcerers in Mexico and undergoes a rigorous physical and mental training process, designed to enable her to breach the limits of ordinary perception.

Tony Cartano , After the Conquest (Seeker & Warburg, o/p) An extraordinary fictional account of a fictional author who believes he is B. Traven's son and sets out to discover the truth about his father. A psychological thriller that is also full of Mexican history and politics.

Eduardo Galeano , Genesis, Faces and Masks (both W.W. Norton). The opening parts of a trilogy by a Uruguayan writer, these anthologies of Indian legends, colonists' tales and odd snatches of history illuminate the birth of Latin America. Not specifically Mexican, but wonderful, relevant reading nonetheless.

Graham Greene , The Power and the Glory (Penguin). Inspired by his investigative travels, this story of a doomed whisky priest on the run from the authorities makes a great yarn. It was a wonderful movie too.

Gary Jennings , Aztec (Forge). Sex and sacrifice in ancient Mexico in this gripping bestseller. The narrator travels around the Aztec empire in search of his fortune, chancing upon almost every ancient culture along the way, and sleeping with most of them, until finally the Spanish arrive. Perfect beach or bus reading, and informative too.

D.H. Lawrence , The Plumed Serpent (Wordsworth/Vintage). One of Lawrence's own favourites, the novel reflects his intense dislike of the country that followed on from the brief honeymoon period of Mornings in Mexico . Fans of his heavy spiritualism will love it.

Haniel Long , The Marvelous Adventure of Cabeza de Vaca (Picador). Two short stories in one volume - the first the account of a ship-wrecked conquistador's journey across the new continent, the second the thoughts and hopes of Malinche, Cortés' interpreter.

Malcolm Lowry , Under the Volcano (Penguin/Plume). A classic since its publication, Lowry's account of the last day in the life of the British Consul in Cuernavaca - passed in a mescal -induced haze - is totally brilliant. His Dark as the Grave Wherein my Friend is Laid is also based on his Mexican experiences.

James A. Michener , Mexico (Crest). Another doorstop from Michener. Fans will love it.

B. Traven , various works. Traven wrote a whole series of compelling novels set in Mexico. Among the best known are Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Prion/Hill & Wang) and The Death Ship (L Hill Books), but of more direct interest if you're travelling are such works as The Bridge in the Jungle and the other six books in the Jungle series: Government, The Carreta, March to the Monteria, Trozas, The Rebellion of the Hanged and General from the Jungle (all Allison & Busby/I R Dee, some o/p). These latter all deal with the state of the peasantry and the growth of revolutionary feeling in the last years of the Díaz dictatorship, and if at times they're overly polemical, as a whole they're enthralling. Will Wyatt's The Secret of the Sierra Madre: The Man who was B. Traven (Harcourt Brace) is the best of the books on the quest for the author's identity.