Title: Next Year in Havana
Author: Chanel Cleeton
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction
Marisol grew up hearing stories about Cuba from her grandmother Elisa, who left there as a teenager and never returned. Now, Elisa has just passed away, and her final wish was for Marisol to visit Cuba for the first time and spread her ashes there. Marisol stays with her grandmother’s childhood best friend, who gives her a box of letters that Elisa gave her to protect when she left the country in 1959. The letters show her a side to her grandmother’s life that she never knew about, and Marisol sets out to discover the full story. The book switches between Marisol’s viewpoint in 2017 and Elisa’s in 1958, so readers learn along with Marisol about the man who wrote the letters and the circumstances that caused Elisa’s family to leave Cuba. However, the more Marisol digs into her family’s past, the more attention she draws from the government, until she begins to put herself and the family she is staying with in danger. This is an intriguing book that keeps readers surprised until the end.
- Melissa
