Customer Reviews

Four Women of Havana

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Hailed by the New York Times as a Notable Book of the Year when it was released in the United States under the title "Havana Dreams", this is a lyrically written chronicle of Cuba as seen through the eyes of the women of a prominent, yet notorious, Cuban family. It is also an elegant narrative of Cuba's past and its present, its good and its bad. Its genesis is the Cuban-American author's own memories of a pre-Castro Cuba of the nineteen forties and fifties, still steeped in its colonial miasma, redolent of family, traditions, and a certain indolence that was reserved for those who lived the life of patrones. I was drawn to this book, as I am also a Cuban-American, and the author's memories in many ways are mine, as well.

I was also intrigued by the intimate portrait of Castro's one time mistress, Naty Revuelta, and the history of her family as set against the backdrop of Cuba. I was interested in how her illicit relationship with a young, fiery revolutionary by the name of Fidel Castro would forever change her life and that of her family. Her family's fortunes and misfortunes parallel those of Cuba itself. Castro's own relationship with his island country would forever change Cuba also, turning it from a colonial paradise for the rich and well-to-do into a crumbling relic from the past, offspring of the mating between heady and romantic revolutionary rhetoric and reality.

Engrossing and memorable in its telling, the author paints a poignant, and fully engaging portrait of Naty, her mother, Dona Natica, a Batista era socialite, and Naty's two daughters, Alina and Nina, one of whom is the fruit of Naty's brief intimate relationship with Castro, the other the daughter of her cuckolded husband. Both her daughters are now expatriates, living in the United States. The story of Naty's family is presented in all its heartbreak and is artfully drawn against the grand panorama of what is modern Cuban history. This is a masterful and luminous book that will appeal to those with an interest in Cuba, as well as to those who enjoy a well-written memoir, steeped in historical context. Bravo!