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Book Reviewed by:After the death of her beloved grandmother, a Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity--and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution...
Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba's high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country's growing political unrest--until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary...
Miami, 2017. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa's last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth.
Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba's tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she'll need the lessons of her grandmother's past to help her understand the true meaning of courage.
Chapter One
Elisa
Havana, 1959
How long will we be gone?" my sister Maria asks.
"Awhile," I answer.
"Two months? Six months? A year? Two?"
"Quiet." I nudge her forward, my gaze darting around the departure area of Rancho-Boyeros Airport to see if anyone has overheard her question.
We stand in a row, the famous-or infamous, depending on who you ask-Perez sisters. Isabel leads the way, the eldest of the group. She doesn't speak, her gaze trained on her fiancé, Alberto. His face is pale as he watches us, as we march out of the city we once brought to its knees.
Beatriz is next. When she walks, the hem of her finest dress swinging against her calves, the pale blue fabric adorned with lace, it's as though the entire airport holds its collective breath. She's the beauty in the family and she knows it.
I trail behind her, the knees beneath my skirts quivering, each step a weighty effort.
And then there's Maria, the last of the sugar queens.
At thirteen, Maria's too young to understand the ...
Chanel Cleeton's Next Year in Havana, received overwhelmingly positive reviews from our First Impression readers, averaging an overall rating of 4.7, including these comments:
The author has a wonderful ability to paint a picture of Havana and Cuba so that you can see the places and settings. I especially enjoyed the author's fine, lyrical writing and the passionate and realistic characters she created...The juxtaposition of conditions in 1958 Cuba with present day Cuba was excellent. The characters were flawed and multi-dimensional. The storyline kept me turning pages rapidly and made me even more anxious to visit this beautiful but complicated country...continued
Full Review
(793 words)
(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
Alix Rickloff, author of On the Way to London
Chanel Cleeton delivers an amazing and captivating read! Alyssa Palombo, author of The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence
Next Year in Havana is a riveting, moving novel that explores the ever-relevant themes of love and sacrifice, family and duty, patriotism and resistance. Cleeton describes Havana so vividly that I felt I was there. I could not put this book down! David Ebershoff, author of The Danish Girl and The 19th Wife
A vivid, transporting novel. Next Year in Havana is about journeys-- into exile, into history, and into questions of home and identity. It's an engrossing read. Heather Webb, author of Last Christmas in Paris
With graceful prose, Cleeton evokes the former grandeur of 1950s Cuba, and contrasts it with modern day Miami in this sweeping family saga of loss and love. Jennifer Robson, USA Today bestselling author of Somewhere in France
Chanel Cleeton’s prose is as beautiful as Cuba itself, and the story she weaves—of exile and loss, memory and myth, forbidden love and enduring friendship—is at once sweeping and beautifully intimate. Kate Quinn, USA Today bestselling of The Alice Network
A flat-out stunner of a book, at once a dual-timeline mystery, a passionate romance, and paean to the tragedy and beauty of war-torn Cuba. Simply wonderful! Lia Riley, author of It Happened on Love Street
A compelling, un-put-downable page-turner told from two equally powerful female narratives…A must read. Renee Rosen, author of Windy City Blues
An undeniably personal and intimate look at Cuba then and now, wrapped around the gripping story of two women torn between love and country. Shelley Noble, New York Times bestselling author of Whisper Beach
An evocative, passionate story of family loyalty and forbidden love that moves seamlessly between the past and present of Cuba’s turbulent history… Next Year in Havana kept me enthralled and savoring every word. Stephanie Thornton, author The Conqueror's Wife
This gritty tale pulls back the curtain on revolutionary and modern Cuba, allowing us a glimpse of the courage, heartache, and sacrifices of those who left their country in exile, and also those who stayed behind.
Next Year in Havana is partially set during the Cuban Revolution (1953-1959). Che Guevara (1928-1967) was one of the Revolution's central figures. Although he does not appear directly in Next Year in Havana, the cause he fought for forms the backdrop to much of the story.
Born Ernesto Guevara de la Serna in Rosario, Argentina, Guevara was the eldest of the five children in his middle-class family. As a young man he studied medicine at the University of Buenos Aires and traveled widely throughout South and Central American while on breaks. During these excursions, he witnessed widespread poverty and oppression. His 1951 motorcycle trip through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Miami (immortalized in ...
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