A review by katiegilley
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

3.0

This book was perfect to read during the sweltering days of summer - it's such a good match for the beautiful and tragic streets of Havana. This book tells us the parallel stories of Marisol and Elisa. Elisa grew up in Cuba before Castro took office. Before Castro, her family owned a successful business selling sugar and rubbed shoulders with the powerful and elite in Havana. After Castro took over, Elisa's family fled the island and moved to Florida. Marisol was raised by Elisa, her grandmother. After Elisa's death, Marisol visits Cuba for the first time to spread Elisa's ashes somewhere on the island and learns so much about her grandmother, Cuba, and herself.

I enjoyed this book because I knew practically nothing about the Cuban revolution and have read NOTHING about life on the island. I got a bit bored with all of the love stories but kept reading for the history of the island. However, I AM looking forward to the sequel, which looks like it will give us more information about the juicy tidbit Aunt Beatriz dropped in the last chapter of this book!