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A HELLO SUNSHINE x REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK “A beautiful novel that's full of forbidden passions, family secrets and a lot of courage and sacrifice.”—Reese Witherspoon 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.
A HELLO SUNSHINE x REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK “A beautiful novel that's full of forbidden passions, family secrets and a lot of courage and sacrifice.”—Reese Witherspoon 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.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
From the bookChapter One
Elisa
Havana, 1959
How long will we be gone?" my sister Maria asks.
"Awhile," I answer.
"Two months? Six months? A year? Two?"
"Quiet." I nudge her forward, my gaze darting around the departure area of Rancho-Boyeros Airport to see if anyone has overheard her question.
We stand in a row, the famous-or infamous, depending on who you ask-Perez sisters. Isabel leads the way, the eldest of the group. She doesn't speak, her gaze trained on her fiancŽ, Alberto. His face is pale as he watches us, as we march out of the city we once brought to its knees.
Beatriz is next. When she walks, the hem of her finest dress swinging against her calves, the pale blue fabric adorned with lace, it's as though the entire airport holds its collective breath. She's the beauty in the family and she knows it.
I trail behind her, the knees beneath my skirts quivering, each step a weighty effort.
And then there's Maria, the last of the sugar queens.
At thirteen, Maria's too young to understand the need to keep her voice low, is able to disregard the soldiers standing in green uniforms, guns slung over their shoulders and perched in their eager hands. She knows the danger those uniforms bring, but not as well as the rest of us do. We haven't been able to remove the grief that has swept our family in its unrelenting curl, but we've done our best to shield her from the barbarity we've endured. She hasn't heard the cries of the prisoners held in cages like animals in La Caba–a, the prison now run by that Argentine monster. She hasn't watched Cuban blood spill on the ground.
But our father has.
He turns and silences her with a look, one he rarely employs yet is supremely effective. For most of our lives, he's left the care of his daughters to our mother and our nanny, Magda, too busy running his sugar company and playing politics. But these are extraordinary times, the stakes higher than any we've ever faced. There is nothing Fidel would love more than to make an example of Emilio Perez and his family-the quintessential image of everything his revolution seeks to destroy. We're not the wealthiest family in Cuba, or the most powerful one, but the close relationship between my father and the former president is impossible to ignore. Even the careless words of a thirteen-year-old girl can prove deadly in this climate.
Maria falls silent.
Our mother walks beside our father, her head held high. She insisted we wear our finest dresses today, hats and gloves, brushed our hair until it gleamed. It wouldn't do for her daughters to look anything but their best, even in exile.
Defiant in defeat.
We might not have fought in the mountains, haven't held weapons in our glove-covered hands, but there is a battle in all of us. One Fidel has ignited like a flame that will never be extinguished. And so we walk toward the gate in our favorite dresses, Cuban pride and pragmatism on full display. It's our way of taking the gowns with us, even if they're missing the jewels that normally adorn them. What remains of our jewelry is buried in the backyard of our home.
For when we return.
To be Cuban is to be proud-it is both our greatest gift and our biggest curse. We serve no kings, bow no heads, bear our troubles on our backs as though they are nothing at all. There is an art to this, you see. An art to appearing as though...
Reviews-
December 1, 2017 "My grandmother loved a revolutionary," says Marisol Ferrera, returning to Cuba 60 years after her family fled the island only to find herself falling for another attractive rebel.Romance readers who enjoy their love stories leavened with a sizable measure of earnest political history will warm to Cleeton's (On Broken Wings, 2017, etc.) new novel, which offers parallel tales of entwined hearts challenged by oppressive regimes. Elisa Perez, one of the four "sugar queens"--the privileged daughters of a Cuban sugar baron--is the first star-crossed lover. Living in luxury in Havana in the late 1950s, Elisa and her sisters are shielded from the imminent revolution by their father's money and allegiance to the status quo, but then Elisa falls for Pablo, "Fidel [Castro]'s eyes and ears in the city." In the 21st century, Florida-based lifestyle journalist Marisol smuggles her grandmother's ashes back to Cuba, obeying Elisa's wishes to be reunited in death with the country from which she had been exiled. Once in Havana, Marisol discovers not only her family's roots and the letters revealing Elisa and Pablo's secret passion, but also her own emotional fulfillment in the form of Luis, the grandson of Elisa's best friend. Cleeton delivers the two women's descents into dangerous romance with persuasive intensity, but her descriptions of Pablo's and Luis' commitments to challenging the political establishment and her larger commentary on Cuba's long, troubled history make for a heavy contrast. "Why is the Cuban convertible peso so important?" asks Marisol, setting the reader up for another solid slab of social/historical/financial exposition. Somber and humor-free, the novel feels uncomfortably strung between its twin missions to entertain and to teach detailed, repetitive factual lessons.A love story and an homage to the history of the Cuban people, the latter significantly overshadowing the former.
COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
February 1, 2018 Contemporary romance author Cleeton (On Broken Wings, 2017) has taken a detour through her own family history to produce a luscious novel that will please romance, historical, and women's fiction readers alike. It's 1959 at the Havana airport, and the four Perez sisters are leaving for Miami, unsure of when they'll returnperhaps next year? Cleeton follows Elisa, the third daughter of a powerful sugar baron. Fast-forward almost 60 years to meet Elisa's granddaughter, Marisol, arriving at that same airport to scatter Elisa's ashes. Parallel tales of passion and romance crash against rigid family expectations, wartime violence, and political barriers. These two women, pampered Elisa and independent Marisol, tell their stories of star-crossed love with genuine emotional intensity. Cleeton's almost guidebook-style descriptions contrast revolutionary era with contemporary Havana, avoiding facile dichotomies for a touching portrayal of a fractured people. With Reader's Guide Discussion Questions and a preview chapter from Cleeton's next novel, which will feature Elisa's sister, firebrand Beatriz, this book launches a very appealing and promising series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
Starred review from December 1, 2017
Florida native Cleeton, drawing on her family history, brings the charm of 1950s Havana to life in her first novel. Elisa Perez is the daughter of a notable Cuban sugar baron whose family is forced to leave the island after Castro's revolutionaries take over the country and destroy everything the Perez patriarch has worked for. The story is told in reverse, beginning with Elisa and her family escaping Cuba under the cover of night and progressing through the events that led to Fidel's triumphant entry in Havana and its outcome. Elisa wrestles between loyalty to her family and her love for a revolutionary fighter; decades later, her granddaughter Marisol returns to Havana carrying Elisa's ashes to grant her final wish to be returned to the city she never forgot. At the same time, Marisol is also trying to find her own answers and perhaps even a chance at love. VERDICT An enticing and wonderful read for lovers of historical fiction and soul-searching journeys.--Adriana Delgado, Palm Beach Cty. Lib., Loxahatchee, FL
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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