Chanel Cleeton

I watched a documentary about Cuba several years ago, and fell in love with the country, and its rich history, so when I had the opportunity to read The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba presented itself I jumped at the chance. This is the first time I've read anything by Chanel Cleeton, and am awestruck by the incredible writing, the talent full of such detail and heart, it is practically spilling off the pages. I was instantly transported back to a unique time in history that I had previously show more known very little about.

Cleeton did a masterful job with her research, the details captivating, and the exploration and research, especially of Evangelina Cisneros, and the war between publishing giants William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, masterfully done. Though there is a lot of details about the Cubans fight for freedom, I never once felt like I was reading a history book, and much of the book is historically accurate!

I learned so much that I wasn't aware of before! There were moments where my heart literally ached, my mind dazed with the thoughts that these events actually happened. Unbelievable! I have heard about the Cuban suppression and struggle for independence from Spain, but I didn't realize the horrors the Cubans endured at the hands of this power-hungry country. While I was reading I couldn't help but wonder if Hitler took a few notes from the Spanish before pouring out his evil on the Jews during World War II, the parallels undeniable.

What inspired me the most was how strong Evangelina, Grace, and Marina were as they endured the war, each fighting for the freedom of their beloved country in their own ways. I love reading about women who can rise above their circumstances and show their true strength.

I have always been a historical fiction lover, and this novel just made me fall more in love with the genre, and opened my eyes to another historical incidence that I want to learn more about. The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba is truly a great story that was poetically told by a terrific new author to me that has now gained herself a new fan!

*I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest, and my own. show less

Author Chanel Cleeton has brought to us a highly atmospheric story, based on historical fact which is beautifully delivered. She blends history and fiction in a seamless story which weaves lives and voices of three strong female protagonists of the late 19th century - all connected to the drama coming out of Cuba as that country fights for its independence. "Viva Cuba Libre!" is the clarion call of the revolutionaries.

This was a story of several wars: Cuba's fight for independence from show more oppressive Spain which leads to the Spanish-American War, the media wars of New York City, war between the Cuban classes and subtly, the war for women's suffrage. Evangelina Cisneros, the actual historical figure of the three women, was the daughter of an insurgent. She had been imprisoned at Recogidas based on slim evidence of collusion against an officer of the Spanish government. William Randolph Hearst facilitated her rescue and the subsequent media blitz in his efforts to sway public opinion and sell more papers - yellow journalism personified.

Cleeton deftly weaves the lives of Evangelina Cisneros, Grace Harrington, an aspiring female journalist employed by Hearst and that of Marina Perez, a woman subjected to the reconcentration camp and ultimately to Recogidas, a facility where women who step outside acceptable social behavior are left to rot and fall into obscurity. It is the decisions of men who fight for freedom, the status quo or for power which ultimately direct the lives of these women. The women are often helpless. Through these women's stories, Cuban's fight for independence is vividly brought to light. show less

After the death of her beloved grandmother, Marisol Ferrera is charged with an important mission: scatter her grandmother's ashes in Cuba, her homeland. As a freelance journalist, Marisol finesses her way into an assignment to write an article about tourist attractions and smuggles her grandmother's ashes into Cuba.

Although Marisol grew up listening to her family's stories about Havana, she is unprepared to confront the familial and political realities of the place. Although welcomed by show more close friends and distant relations, she feels distinctly like an outsider and she meets a version of her beloved grandmother she never knew. As Marisol continues to uncover ancestral secrets, she is also surprised to discover an inconvenient passion for a mysterious Cuban man.

This book annoyed me. At its heart are two quintessentially privileged and clueless women who inexplicably form a deep emotional attachment to men entirely morally opposed to them. It's more forgivable in the case of Elisa, who is nineteen and has not been raised to be curious or thoughtful. It makes (some) sense that she's never questioned why her family lives in a palace while the rest of their country starves.

But Marisol is a thirty-year-old woman and a journalist. The reader is supposed to believe that she's never questioned her family's troubling past, nor examined the complicated political history of the country she claims as her own. She meets a history professor in Cuba and is confronted by some extremely basic questions that she should have considered long before. Despite falling in love with Luis, she still doesn't really examine or interrogate her own privilege much other than whining that the Cubans don't really see her as one of their own. Which, of course they don't. She's literally never visited before?

Both relationships are not really developed and make no sense. They both function the same, a silly woman meets a serious and passionate man who can then talk at her for pages on end in order to explain parts of Cuba's history. They are in love instantly, although they have nothing in common and don't really agree on much.

The book's "secrets" are obvious and still painfully telegraphed. Moreover, Marisol's relationship with Luis reads disturbingly like a purchase. She admires him immediately for his looks and "old world charm" (deep cringe), but what makes her fall in love with him is his passion for Cuba. She watches him teach a history class and enviously gazes upon him, coveting his "passion" and wishing she had a job that could fill her with such enthusiasm. This woman, born to privileged returns to her home country seeking yet another experience she can acquire for herself - in this instance, an authentic Cuban she can join herself to in order to prove her "realness". And she does. The convenient plot elements assist her, but in the end, she convinces Luis to leave Cuba to save his life and is deeply unconcerned with whether he will be happy in America long term. She's just glad that she "has" him. It all read as very possessive.

Literally, after the plane leaves Cuba, Luis doesn't speak again. Marisol talks about him to other people, but we don't see him again. He has faded into the background, as just a piece of furniture in her life. But she gets to tell her great aunt about her "Cuban lover" that she brought back with her.

I sorta get that the book is supposed to be escapist. The reader is supposed to imagine themselves jetting off to Cuba and having just enough of an adventure to get a thrill before returning to the safe cocoon of America with our new lover. But this book conveys enough of Cuban history for it to be deeply troubling to be another person stripping the island of resources before fleeing. I wanted to know more about the people that were left behind after the protagonists' family left. These are the people whose story this should be.

Also. I cannot close this review with out saying that BOTH protagonists comment, completely unironically, about how their family's staff are "just as much a part of the family as any of us" on multiple occasions. Which made me roll my eyes so hard I passed out. Gross. show less

It might be that the weather has been dreary recently, but this book really captured my imagination. The vivid descriptions of Cuba had me googling pictures of the island and the food references had me searching for Cuban cookbooks on Amazon. (Maybe I'm really ready for winter to be over? Or a vacation?) Before I get carried away, I do need to acknowledge that this book did do an excellent job of talking about the Cuban regime and the struggles of ordinary Cubans living on the island. The show more plot moved between the present day and Castro's takeover in the late 1950s, so the reader gets a firm sense of the history that led to the current state of affairs. All in all, I loved it and I just may be inspired to learn more about Cuban history. show less