A review by lafate
A Greek Love: A Novel of Cuba by Zoé Valdés

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

In October I read "A Greek Love: A Novel of Cuba" by Zoé Valdés (translated by David Frye) for a World Book Tour for Central America and the Caribbean. I chose books written by females who are from the regions. I tried to pick work that exclusively takes place in the region, but I failed a little here. I wanted authors who lived in the area but Zoé Valdés was exiled and lives in Europe now. 

This is a family story and family life is not idyllic. Zé, the 16 year old girl falls in love with a Greek cabin boy. She gets pregnant, bringing shame to the family. She seeks refuge with an aunt and has her baby boy whom she names Petros. There is much more, but I don't want to give spoilers. The look into life under Fidel Castro is very telling. 

The last part of the story takes place when Petros is grown. Both Zé and Petros are educated and respected in their fields. They have to deal with much red tape in order to travel. I'll leave it at that. I suggest reading the book. I borrowed the ebook on Libby from my library. I see it on Kindle as well. 

I wanted to rate everything five stars, but this wasn't quite there. It's very good, though.