La Malinche, also known as Malintzin or Doña Marina, was an Indigenous woman who became interpreter, adviser and intermediary for Hernán Cortés. Her linguistic skill was essential to Spanish diplomacy and alliance-building during the conquest of the Aztec Empire, while later memory has cast her variously as survivor, mother, mediator and traitor.
In Colin Falconer’s Feathered Serpent, Among the women transferred to his expedition is Malinali, later known as La Malinche, whose languages and political understanding make her indispensable as the Spaniards seek allies against Moctezuma's empire. In Gary Jennings’s Aztec Revenge, Martín Cortés, known as El Mestizo and born to Hernán Cortés and La Malinche, understands that Juan’s unknown lineage may carry political significance. Other novels featuring La Malinche include Manolo Palomares’s Mestizo and Manolo Palomares’s Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico.