Review: When We Left Cuba (by Chanel Cleeton)

My rating: 4.5 stars

In her first book about the Perez family, Next Year in Havana, author Chanel Cleeton had introduced us to Beatriz Perez, Marisol Ferrara’s great-aunt and also older sister to Elisa Perez.  Even though the focus of that story was on Marisol and Elisa, with Beatriz playing only a supporting role, I still remember quite vividly Beatriz’s strong, spirited, defiant personality – in fact, she was one of my favorite characters from that story so of course, I was absolutely ecstatic to learn that Cleeton’s next novel, When We Left Cuba, would essentially be Beatriz’s story.   While Next Year in Havana was set primarily in Cuba and focused on the time period of the revolution in which president Batista was ousted and Fidel Castro took power, When We Left Cuba is set primarily in the United States and focuses on the aftermath of the revolution, the Cuban exiles living in Florida and their fight to reclaim Cuba, as well as the island’s relationship with the rest of the world under Castro’s leadership.  In addition, this story touched on elements that we would normally find in a spy thriller, as Beatriz becomes involved with the CIA and goes on a few secret missions for them with the goal of killing Castro in order to avenge the death of her twin brother Alejandro and the loss of her family’s home and fortunes.  Story-wise, there was a lot at play here –politics, history (both Cuban history as well as American), romance, espionage, family, culture, etc. – plus quite a few characters, both ones we were introduced to in the previous story as well as new ones, yet not once did I feel overwhelmed by everything that was going on – rather, I was captivated by the story and couldn’t put the book down once I started reading it.  I’m usually not a reader of spy/espionage-themed stories and more often than not, I also don’t take well to stories heavy on American politics, but this book defied my expectations in this area -- both of these themes were incorporated extremely well, to the point that they didn’t overpower the story, which I absolutely appreciated.

One of the biggest draws to this book for me was the character of Beatriz Perez herself – a wonderfully written character who was at once complex, intriguing, and absolutely unforgettable.  I loved her sassiness, her independent spirit, her boldness in following her heart and not caring what others thought of her or her actions, her open defiance of convention and refusal to conform to what society and her parents expected of her (which was to marry someone rich and well-connected, have children, and fade into the role of demure housewife).  Beautiful, smart, funny, willful, and headstrong, Beatriz was the type of person who wanted to be recognized and respected for her own merits, who valued her own independence and freedom and making her own way in the worl               d, who wanted to shape her own destiny and not be a woman needing to be “taken care of” by a man or whose worth in the world could only be defined by the merits and achievements of her significant other.   At the same time, she was also a woman who knew how to love passionately, fearlessly, boldly, devotedly, yet still be able to approach the same relationship with pragmatism and discernment.  In her Author’s Note, Cleeton mentioned that after introducing Beatriz’s character in Next Year in Havana, she had to stop halfway through drafting that novel in order to write the first chapter of this book because Beatriz’s story “was pushing its way out, demanding to be told” – that’s exactly how I felt about Beatriz even before I started reading her story!

Once again, Cleeton does a fantastic job of seamlessly melding historical events with a captivating story while at the same time giving us beautifully drawn, imperfect characters whom we can’t help falling in love with as the story progresses.  While it’s not required to have read the first novel in order to appreciate this one, I would still recommend reading Next Year in Havana prior to going into this one because of the background it provides in terms of the Perez family and what happened to them during the revolution in Cuba.  I enjoyed revisiting some of the characters from the previous story and also seeing how perfectly the timelines from both stories aligned.  I’m not sure if Cleeton’s next historical novel (which, according to the note at the back of this book, is scheduled to come out in Winter 2020) will also be about the Perez family, but even if it’s not, given how much I loved her last 2 novels, no doubt I am still highly anticipating its release.  Historical fiction fans definitely should pick both of these novels up, especially those who are interested in better understanding Cuban history and its role on the world stage.

Received ARC from Berkley Books via Penguin First to Read program

Review: Miracle Creek (by Angie Kim)

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Wow, what a story!  This book surprised me in so many ways, which is something I didn’t expect going into it after reading the summary.  On the surface, this looked like a typical mystery / thriller but with a unique premise – a hyperbaric oxygen therapy procedure gone horribly wrong and subsequently a young single mother gets put on trial for murder – yet a few chapters in, it became apparent that there was nothing “typical” about this story.  In fact, I had a hard time categorizing this book, as it’s one of those stories that starts off with a crime committed – in this case, a fire that was set, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries – but as the facts about the case are debated in court and each character gets to tell their side of the story from their perspective, the narrative evolves into much more than just an exercise in determining guilt or innocence in order to solve a case.  Rather, the story becomes a deeper exploration of various issues and experiences that many of us deal with in real life:  the complexities of relationships, the obligations involved with marriage and parenthood, the bonds of family, morality and ethics as it pertains to how one deals with incurable medical conditions, etc. – throw into that mix a truly resonant immigrant story, one that gets to the heart of the Asian immigrant experience in terms of culture, acceptance, identity, and the effect this experience can have on those who live it every day.  There was a lot of depth to the story as well as to the characters, all of whom I felt that I could relate to and connect with in one way or another, despite coming from a completely different background and, with a few of the characters, not sharing any experiences in common. 

This was a book that I found very hard to put down, to the point that I very nearly finished it in one sitting except for the fact that I needed to sleep for a few hours in order for my brain to properly function so I reluctantly had to finish reading in 2 sittings instead.  It still amazes me that this is the author Angie Kim’s debut novel, as this was so well-written and the individual threads of the story were woven together so seamlessly, there’s no doubt in my mind about her talent as a writer.  I’m typically not a fan of books where courtroom dramas are front and center, as I tend to find them too drawn out and confusing, but this one was very well done, with a perfect balance of twists and turns as the trial went on with the cleverly placed backstories that kept me constantly second-guessing each character’s involvement leading up to the incident.  The ending was surprising and not anything at all like what I expected, yet made perfect sense with the way the story played out.

In interviews and articles, the author talks about her family’s own experience with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which she incorporated into the narrative alongside additional research that gave the story an altogether authentic feel.  At times, I felt like I was reading about a real-life court case involving real-life people — a criminal case written so convincingly, I had to remind myself time and again that this was a work of fiction.  The realistic nature of the story compelled me to immediately go online after I finished the book so I could find out more about the author and also get some additional background on what I had read.

This is a book you want to go into knowing as little as possible and just let the story take you where it leads.  With that in mind, I don’t want to say too much more other than give yourself sufficient time to read this one because once you pick it up, you most likely won’t want to put it down!

Received ARC from Sarah Crichton Books (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) via NetGalley

Review: Lost Roses (by Martha Hall Kelly)

My Rating: 5 stars

 

I am probably one of the few people left on this planet who has not yet read Lilac Girls, Martha Hall Kelly’s debut novel about real life heroine Caroline Ferriday during World War II.  The book has actually been on my TBR for quite some time and I even own a copy of it, but unfortunately, I have struggled to find the time to read it (which hopefully will be rectified soon).   Despite not having read Lilac Girls, I was still excited to have received an ARC of Kelly’s second novel Lost Roses, which is the prequel to Lilac Girls and tells the story of Caroline’s mother Eliza Ferriday.  This time around, the story is set against the backdrop of World War I, though technically, the Great War only plays a peripheral role, as most of the story takes place in Russia, with a narrative revolving around the events leading up to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1918 – a peasant uprising that eventually overthrew the imperial dynasty and ended the rule of the Romanov family.  Central to the story is Sofya Streshnayva, cousin to the tsar and also Eliza’s best friend, who is forced to flee with her family to their country estate in the woods when war erupts and things become too dangerous for the ruling class.  While staying at the estate, the family hires a young peasant girl, Varinka – the daughter of the local fortune teller -- to help in the kitchen and also take care of Sofya’s newborn son Max.  Unbeknownst to them, Varinka brings with her tremendous danger that will end up changing the family’s lives forever.  Meanwhile, after having returned to her hometown of New York, Eliza endures a tragedy of her own, but through it all, she continues to do her part in helping the Russian immigrants who successfully fled from the revolution to America, while at the same time, she continues to hold out hope that her friend Sofya and her family will also be able to escape the turmoil wrought by revolution as well as the vestiges of war.

With the story narrated mostly from the alternating perspectives of Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka, each woman lends a distinctive voice to this captivating tale of endurance and survival during a turbulent period in history.  Going into this book, I had very limited knowledge about the Bolshevik Revolution and the resulting turmoil in Russia at that time, so I definitely appreciated the tremendous research that the author Martha Hall Kelly did in order to bring that historical event and all the other ones to life.  The storytelling here was top-notch, as I truly did feel like I was being transported back to that time and place, living through the harrowing circumstances that Sofya and her family faced.  The portrayal of the horrors and violence suffered by those caught up in the uprising felt so real that I actually felt a chill run through me while I was reading those particular scenes.  Sofya was the type of character that I couldn’t help but root for, with everything she goes through and still finding the will to survive for her son’s sake, an admirable trait many of us with children can relate to.  With Varinka, I felt her inner moral struggle and though I pitied the situation she was placed in, I still couldn’t help being upset over the role she played in the events that transpired.  As for Eliza, I actually felt that her story was the least interesting of the three, though I did love her fierce personality and compassionate spirit.  I love stories with strong female protagonists and this book didn’t give us just one, but several indomitable women (and I include not just the above-mentioned 3 women, but also Luba, Caroline, Mamka, Eliza’s mother Carry, etc.) whose courage, determination, and tenacity amongst so much destruction and adversity made this such an unforgettable story for me.

This is historical fiction at its finest:  well-researched with the historical events incorporated seamlessly, plus a compelling story as well as wonderfully developed characters – a balance that is not easy to achieve in books like this one where it is necessary to strive for authenticity historically while still maintaining great storytelling.  Emotionally, this story resonated with me deeply, especially with its portrayal of family, love, hope, friendship, and most significantly, resilience.  The one warning I would give is that the descriptions of the atrocities of war were gut-wrenching and, truth be told, difficult for me to get through, but I understand the necessity of including these scenes for us to understand the devastating impact of such history and as a lesson to never let them happen again.

In her Author’s Note, Martha Hall Kelly mentions that she will be writing a third book – another prequel, but this time the story will go back further in time to the Civil War, continuing the story of the Woolsey women with Caroline’s great-grandmother Jane Eliza Newton Woolsey and the establishment of the first nursing services in America.  I’m looking forward to Kelly’s next book and for sure, I will definitely have read her first one Lilac Girls by then!

Received ARC from Ballantine Books via NetGalley