The twin protagonists of this rivetting novel emerge from the Cuban countryside like Caribbean Tristans and Isoldes, bound to each other in an eternal embrace that neither politics, nor geography, nor the ill-will of family and society can break.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A disarming blend of magic realism and pungent social satire, this extraordinary debut novel is an incandescent tale of love, double incest, mistaken identity and immigrant dreams. In Cuba in the late 1950s, Christian faith healer Arnaldo Saavedra conducts a love affair with Patricia Ona, daughter of the owner of the local sugar mill. Patricia dies giving birth to a daughter, Esmeralda, whom Arnaldo kidnaps and takes to Spanish Harlem. But Arnaldo remains unaware that, shortly before she died, Patricia also gave birth to Esmeralda's twin brother, Juan. Adopted at birth by his wealthy grandparents, the boy eventually moves with them to Miami's Cuban exile community. Throughout her youth, Esmeralda is sexually abused by Arnaldo, who rationalizes the incest as sacred love, a vicarious communion with Patricia. On her 29th birthday, Esmeralda meets Juan?now a melancholy, Yale-educated portrait painter who, on an irresistible impulse, has traveled to New York. Unaware of their common blood, the two fall in love, their incestuous relationship triggering the jealous rage of Arnaldo, who ultimately realizes that his daughter's suitor is his missing son. Poet, playwright and journalist Novas (Everything You Need to Know about Latino History) saddles her wondrous tale with an unsatisfying and disturbing denouement that's tragic and upbeat at once. Even so, her lyrical, fiercely intelligent novel, crammed with mystical phenomena and allusions to pop culture, adroitly probes the pressures facing immigrants adjusting to Yanqui realities.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"...lyrical, fiercely intelligent novel..." --Publishers Weekly
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More About the Author
NOTE: IF YOU WISH TO RESPOND TO MY BLOGS, PLEASE DISREGARD THE "COMMENT" BUTON IN THESE AMAZON PAGES AND, INSTEAD, EMAIL ME AT himilce_novas@yahoo.com
This web page contains a general biographical background on my work and general interests:
http://supernovas.org/index13.htm
My two published novels, MANGOS BANANAS AND COCONUTS:A CUBAN LOVE STORY and PRINCESS PAPAYA have received great reviews (thankfully)and are sold through Amazon all bookstores.This web page has some of the reviews etc: http://supernovas.org/index27.htm
Presently, I am looking for new and alternative publishing ways that will make my works more accessible to readers. I welcome suggestions through this blog. I was a founding member of NY NOW and have stood for feminist causes my whole life. At present, I am doing what I can on behalf of equal marriage and the bringing about of full civil rights for the GLBT citizens of this country and around the world. I am a transplanted New Yorker, presently living in the West. I have traveled a great deal but am most comfortable at home in front of the computer, making "one little room an everywhere," to borrow from John Donne.
This web page contains a general biographical background on my work and general interests:
http://supernovas.org/index13.htm
My two published novels, MANGOS BANANAS AND COCONUTS:A CUBAN LOVE STORY and PRINCESS PAPAYA have received great reviews (thankfully)and are sold through Amazon all bookstores.This web page has some of the reviews etc: http://supernovas.org/index27.htm
Presently, I am looking for new and alternative publishing ways that will make my works more accessible to readers. I welcome suggestions through this blog. I was a founding member of NY NOW and have stood for feminist causes my whole life. At present, I am doing what I can on behalf of equal marriage and the bringing about of full civil rights for the GLBT citizens of this country and around the world. I am a transplanted New Yorker, presently living in the West. I have traveled a great deal but am most comfortable at home in front of the computer, making "one little room an everywhere," to borrow from John Donne.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sensual and provocative with a sense of humor,
This review is from: Mangos, Bananas, and Coconuts: A Cuban Love Story (Hardcover)
The story has been told before, but the way its told here with a Latin flavor, rich characters, and a great sense of humor, it allows for a good deal of enjoyment and learning. There are several mentions of cultural differences and inequalities which are central to the story of many immigrants. A very enjoyable story.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extraordinay Novel! The Best!,
By Hannibal Dixon (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mangos, Bananas, and Coconuts: A Cuban Love Story (Hardcover)
I am captivated by this incredible magic realist novel which turns out to be a satire on magic realism. Beautifully and poetically written, informed by Latin culture and history and firmly planted on the literary tradition of the masters of Western literature, this novel by Himilce Novas is one of the best books I've ever read. The passages on pre-Castro Cuba and the arrival of Castro, as well as life in New York and Miami for two sets of distictly separate Cuban Americans (one poor and one privileged) were rich, informative, stirring, strong, emotional, humorous...the book left me totally undone.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Startling, yet cliched...,
By kattepusen (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mangos, Bananas, and Coconuts: A Cuban Love Story (Hardcover)
The story is quick to capture one's attention, yet the drama soon turns to fluff in its abundance of super-natural occurances and extreme descriptions. Yes, it tries hard to come across as "magical realism" in the purest Latin American form; however, it eventually reads like cliched kiosk litterature. By the end of the novel I was simply tired of reading about those magnificent emerald eyes and pomegranate lips...The incestous plot could have been just as interesting without the parties being such captivating beauties and "extreme" in all their actions. Even the repetitious love-making scenes are described with the nuance of Danielle Steele... The story does include interesting elements of the struggle to be of South American origin living in the US, and the descriptions of the contrast between those who consider themselves "exiles" and those who remain "Cuban-to-the-bone" are colorful. Overall a quick, but ultimately unsatisfying read.
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