Book Review

Title: Broken Paradise
Author: Cecilia Samartin
Date Published: Feb. 2007

While this is two year old book, I recently picked it up at a bookstore in the bargain section. I was completely blown away by the story and beautifully written prose. This story, about two cousins during the Castro takeover in Cuba, follows the journey of two different experiences of the time. One of the cousins stays in Cuba, hoping for decline of Castro while falling in love with a young revolutionary. The other follows a girl and her family as they flee to the US to escape poverty. The book also deals with issues of racism within Cuban culture when the cousin in Cuba falls in love with a mulatto revolutionary despite the entire family's objection of it. Meanwhile, the cousin in the US struggles with learning English, making friends, and missing her cousin. She, however, does find success with school, a job, husband, and house. Throughout the ten or so years they are a part, the cousins write letters to each other. Finally, the story comes to a head when the US cousin plans to visit Cuba to help her lonely cousin and her blind daughter try to escape. The story is so poignant that the last two chapters were a whirl wind of emotions. This intimate look at Cuban culture, generational divide, and racism, through the love of these cousins is beautiful and lovely, and definitely worth a read!