Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
Narrator: Kyla Garcia
Pages: 361
Published by Blackstone Audio
Publication Date February 6, 2018
Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Goodreads
After 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 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.
Goodreads Updates
Historical romances are probably my guilty pleasure reading. The plot of a love that was not meant to be against the turmoil of the 1950s Cuba was right up my alley. I did feel that Marisol’s present-day was necessary to the story, however, I looked forward to listening to Elisa’s tale more.
Kyla Garcia had great pacing and at times the lilt of her voice reminded me of Cassandra Campbell, one of my favorite narrators.
I saw Elisa’s bun coming on page 10. Although listening to how it unfolded was still enjoyable.
We took a swerve and the novel suddenly became Taken starring Liam Neeson. I rolled my eyes and imagined the Fonz jumping over a shark. Fortunately, while critical to the stories development was not dwelt on for long.
I would recommend this to someone who likes historical romances but if one is looking for a story with a little more substance I may pass it up.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Leave a Reply