Broken Paradise
by Cecilia Samartin
Published by ATRIA Books
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Reviewed by Katherine M. Miller
Author Cecilia Samartin was born in Havana, Cuba in 1961 in the midst of the revolution. Her parents emigrated to America while she was a baby, and Samartin grew up in Los Angeles as a fully bicultural, bilingual American. In this her first novel, Samartin writes about her homeland, gracefully describing both the island's glory days and its devastating collapse after the revolution.
Samartin tells the story of two cousins, Nora and Alicia who grow up to lead very different lives. Alicia's exotic beauty makes her the center of attention, sometimes to Nora's dismay and sometimes amusement. The cousins are inseparable until Nora's family leaves Cuba for exile in America.
As Nora leaves, her family's maid, Beba, asks her to only show her "ghost heart" to the United States, hoping this will protect Nora's real heart so that she never forgets her identity or beautiful homeland. And although Nora doesn't completely understand Beba, she never forgets that simple request.
The cousins exchange letters throughout the years. Nora's speak of her education and her struggle to bring her Cuban heritage into her American life while Alicia's letters describe the delicate situation in Havana, her husband's arrest and her baby's illness.
It soon becomes clear that Alicia is also ill, and when she can no longer care for her family alone, Nora returns to Havana. What Nora finds in her hometown breaks her real heart, and here is where Samartin's gift for writing truly shines. Every place Nora remembers is in shocking disrepair, Alicia's health is quickly failing, and her niece, Lucinda, cannot receive needed medical treatment. When Nora and Alicia reunite with Beba, the three of women work together to protect Lucinda and, ultimately, to carry the young girl to America.
Throughout Nora's entire journey, Samartin's narrative is so clear and emotional that you will forget this is fiction. Instead, you are transported to those terrifying days of the early Cuban revolution.
Armchair Interviews says: Your heart will stretch with Nora's and Alicia's as the story unfolds.
Author's Web site: http://www.ceciliasamartin.com