The Other Moctezuma Girls

A Novel

By: Sofia Robleda

Narrated by: Victoria Villarreal, Diana Bustelo, Elena Rey

In sixteenth-century Mexico, a fearless young woman strives to uncover the secrets her mother kept as the last Aztec empress in a sweeping historical epic by the author of Daughter of Fire.

Tenochtitlan, 1551. Thirty years after the Spanish Conquest destroyed everything she loved, the last Aztec empress has passed and left behind a pristine yet tenuous legacy for her children. As her last will and testament is read out, her daughter Isabel suspects that another account of her mother’s life may exist, hidden away, chapter by chapter, in the Valley of Mexico. Following each clue, Isabel is determined to find out who her mother really was and to discover the secrets she buried in order to survive.

Joined by her siblings and a handsome young cook named Juan, Isabel embarks on a perilous journey to piece together the past—a journey that will force the party to brave the brutal viceroyal court, face fearsome legends in mystical chinampas, and trek through desert, fire, and snow. As Isabel’s feelings for Juan grow, she confronts everything she thought she knew about her Spanish father, her empress mother, and herself. Facing everything from the tunnels of ancient pyramids to the summit of an active volcano, Isabel will meet every challenge to fulfill an epic quest for the truth.

©2026 by Sofia Robleda Gomez. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“The Other Moctezuma Girls tells a moving and eye-opening tale of family, loss, and the consequences of colonialism that will leave the reader wanting even more.”—Booklist

“Robleda is quickly becoming a historical fiction powerhouse. The Other Moctezuma Girls is a superb reclamation of history rarely seen through the lens of women who endured, researched intelligently and written with heart. A deeply moving portrait of sisterhood, family, power, and legacy, full of love and defiance. Robleda has a true gift for centering voices history often overlooks. I adored every page.”—Mariely Lares, international bestselling author of Sun of Blood and Ruin

“An epic of inheritance, resilience, and discovery, this novel carries readers from the heart of Tenochtitlan to the farthest edges of the Valley of Mexico with breathtaking beauty and peril. A luminous blend of history, legend, and adventure, it captures the pulse of a world remade by conquest and the fierce spirit of those who refused to be erased. Robleda delivers a tale so absorbing it claimed me completely—I loved this book.”—Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro, author of Bochica

the slave life

i was so confused with where we were, who was there, who married what husband etc etc