Next Year in Havana

On Monday, October 7th, the Booked for the Day Book Group met to discuss, Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton. 

Here are some of the comments readers made while discussing Next Year in Havana:

• The majority of the group liked the historical aspect of the book over the romance. The book gave us an understanding of what really went on in Havana before Castro came into power and then what happened after. The fact that the author has a master’s in Cultural Politics led some of us to believe that the history and politics of the story was realistic, but some thought that since the author had never been to Cuba they felt unsure of her reality of present day conditions, and then some were interested in doing more research on Cuba’s past and present.
• We agreed that the sad part is that the Cuban people live in fear even though their home is based in a paradise. The revolution had such a huge impact on all aspects of Cuban life.
• One member talked about Cleeton’s novel, When We Left Cuba, which is another novel about the Perez family that hits on the Bay of Pigs crisis. The story follows Elisa’s older sister, Beatriz.
• To most of us the Love-At-First-Sight storyline between Marisol and Luis seems contrived and unrealistic, especially when they conveniently left in the jet plane. Most thought the ending was very predictable and a few thought that Luis should have stayed in Cuba, which would have made a more interesting ending.
• One member shared her husband’s experiences growing up in Miami during that time period. He never felt that his friends regretted leaving Cuba and that they all seemed to assimilate well into our culture.
• It was mentioned that the book dragged a bit and at times seemed repetitive.
• We talked about the fact that American tourists are not visiting Cuba versus the time when travel restrictions were first lifted.
• One member mentioned how she liked the tie in to the Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara that we also learned about in the book, The Woman who Smashed Codes.

These are just a few things mentioned during the discussion. Please feel free to add any of your thoughts in the comment section.