A HELLO SUNSHINE x REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK“A beautiful novel that’s full of forbidden passions, family secrets and a lot of courage and sacrifice.”—Reese WitherspoonAfter 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 … 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.
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My favorite read of 2018!
Next Year in Havana is a book I’ve seen everywhere. It’s a Reese’s Book Club pick, all over Goodreads, and pretty high up on the Amazon charts. Since it’s release I’ve noted how pretty the cover is, read the blurb, and decided I would skip this one because it doesn’t sound like something I would enjoy. But when I saw it was included in Audible’s 2 for 1 New Years deal AND it perfectly fit one of my Popsugar Challenge reads, I decided to chance it. Y’all, I am SO dang glad I took and chance and ended up proving myself wrong.
This story is a heartfelt, eye-opening look at the mysterious land of Cuba. I definitely fit into that stereotypical American box when it comes to my ideals of Cuba. I think of it as this mysterious land that is stuck in a time-warp, but now that Castro is dead it’s the perfect place to go for a vacation and romance. Marisol’s journey to put her grandmother to rest and learn more about her Cuban roots made me think about all of the struggles Cubans faced before, during and after Castro’s reign.
Being the romantic that I am, I loved that this story included not just one but two romances in it. I really loved all of the characters in this book. Each one was different with unique personalities and their own struggles. Elisa and Marisol’s stories definitely opened my eyes and tore at my emotions. I have even found myself wandering to Google to do research on a country that I am realizing I know very little about.
I will definitely be pre-ordering Beatrice’s book that comes out later this year, When We Left Cuba.
Marisol Ferrara was raised by her late grandmother, Elisa, who immigrated from Cuba in the 1950’s. Her grandmother’s dying wish was to have her ashes scattered in her native Havana. Marisol works as a freelance journalist in Miami and will use this opportunity to write a piece on tourism in Cuba. She embarks on this journey with the goal of finding a location with symbolic importance to her grandmother.
Marisol arrives in Cuba and sets out to learn all that she can about her grandmother’s family. She begins to trace Elisa’s life with help from her grandmother’s childhood friend. Ana gives her a box containing her grandmother’s letters and this provides most of the clues to Elisa’s past. These include secret love letters detailing her teenage romance with a young revolutionary. Marisol begins to appreciate the amazing life her grandmother lived and the sacrifices her family made to keep them together.
This novel by Chanel Cleeton is one of my favorite reads over the last year. It is a very engaging story with a great mix of romance and history. I look forward to the sequel scheduled for 2019.
The characters immerse you in the Cuban way of life before and after Castro. I throughly enjoyed this book!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book about the relationship between the Cubans who left Cuba in the ‘50’s and Cubans who stayed. It was very thought-provoking.
I absolutely adored this book. Not only do you get an intriguing and romantic story, but you also learn some Cuban history. This is a must read!
Loved this book! Ever person who thinks they are a socialist or thinks communism is wonder needs to read for sure.
The hisrwas interesting but more of a romance than I expected.
Having lived in the Miami area with many Cuban friends, I understood the emotional turmoil that the lead characters portrayed. It would be interesting to see if there was a follow up to this book.
It is historically correct and is to this day truthful!
Sad and valiant at the same time!
Great characters, draws you in and keeps you interested. My book club likes to focus on the food from our books. This one did not disappoint.
Learned a lot about Cuban history.
I loved everything about this book and was disappointed when I finished because I wanted more. There is a commonality among all people who are denied their culture, a need to explore and finally claim an identity that the ” great melting pot” erases.
Great story
Interesting story about Cuba in 1959 and the present. Good read!
I came away with a better understanding of the beauty and tragedy that is Cuba. A heart warming tale of a woman and her grandmother both loving men focused on changing Cuban politics,
This is the story of the survival of a family beginning in Batista’s Cuba, through the exile in Florida, to the reconnection in Havana. It is a love story, a tragedy, an accurate history and it is completely engrossing. The characters are easy to imagine, easy to love, easy to root for.
Stories about Cuba always intrigue me.
I enjoyed the contrast between Cuba of the 1950’s and Cuba of the present day.
I loved this book. I’ve never really understood Cuba’s complicated history and these parallel stories are wonderful. Yeah, I am sure there are some minor factual errors but I still loved it. The grandmother/granddaughter’s relationship with their country, countrymen and what it means to be Cuban were fantastic. It wrapped up maybe a bit too tidily but left enough loose ends for the sequel. The political talk was necessary and informative but there was enough of a narrative arc to keep my interest. Highly recommend.
A great look at how the lives of Cuban citizens (both rich and poor) were affected by the Cuba revolution.