Chanel Cleeton tells the story of two women, a grandmother and granddaughter, in this historical novel. Cleeton shares about Elisa's life growing up in Cuba in the 1950s leading to the eventual exile of her and her elite sugar plantation family. She meets a charming man, Pablo, and falls in love. However, Elisa and Pablo have very different lifestyles and political views. Pablo is part of the revolution supporting Castro's overthrow of the Cuban government. Pablo's views are directly in contradiction to that of Elisa's father. Elisa is loyal to her family, and Pablo is loyal to his country.
Marisol, the granddaughter of Elisa, embarks on a journey to bring her grandmother's ashes back to home to Cuba. Marisol shares the love of Cuba that her grandmother has shared through storytelling. Elisa’s family wasn’t able to take any “artifacts” with them when they left Cuba - no heirlooms, no photos. Marisol stays with her grandmother’s childhood best friend, Ana, while in Cuba. Marisol uncovers her grandmother’s relationship with Pablo, finding herself wanting more answers to who her grandmother actually was.
While in Cuba, Marisol meets Ana’s grandson, Luis, and a romance blossoms. However, like Elisa and Pablo’s story, Marisol and Luis come from two very different worlds. Can they find a way to make things work?
Cleeton describes regular violence in Havana, with the characters not knowing if it is coming from within the government or from the revolutionist groups. Elisa struggles with how she can be loyal to her family and loyal to her country at the same time. It's interesting how the same theme of violence is present when modern day Marisol is telling of her time in Cuba. Actually, there are many similarities that were striking to me as I read about 1950s Cuba and modern Cuba.
The picture Cleeton paints of modern day Cuba is so interesting. It seems as though when Marisol lands in Cuba, she is thrown back several decades. Houses and cars all look much the same as they did when Elisa was growing up. The characters describe that this is not by their choice; it’s their way of making do with what resources they already have. It's amazing how the Cuban society struggles with things like basic needs, such as rations for bread and milk, both during the time Elisa was growing up and still in the time when Marisol arrives in Cuba. The description of the tourist industry and how this is not necessarily a benefit was interesting to me. The characters in the story describe it in a way that tourism actually furthered the divide between the elite and the poor, or maybe it is the poor and the poorer as wealth is almost nonexistent. Marisol finds that even eating a meal with meat is at times hard to find.
Cleeton also tackles the idea of fear. Fear can make someone irrational, even dangerous. Fear from one person can lead to great power for another. Can you get desensitized to fear? Cleeton also describes how fear and power can blur the lines between good and evil. I can't imagine constantly living in fear. Not knowing who was maybe watching me, monitoring my every move, listening to my conversations. Fear to not be myself or not express my ideas. However, the greatest theme that Cleeton shares in this novel is that of hope, something that rings true to my heart.
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