When We Left Cuba

by Chanel Cleeton

[girlinthepages]

If you hung around my blog last summer/fall, you probably heard me raving about my love for Next Year in Havana, a historical fiction novel that stole my heart with its dual timeline narrative, Latinx protagonists and gorgeous cover. As a first generation Latinx woman myself, I am always always always looking for more representation of my Latinx heritage in literature, and though I'm not Cuban I was deeply invested and moved by the story of the Perez family and their descendants. I was ecstatic to find that there was to be a sequel set in the 1960s following the sassy side character sister Beatriz and promptly added it to my must read books of 2019 shelf on Goodreads.

First and foremost I will admit that I didn't love When We Left Cuba quite as much as Next Year in Havana. Though it picks up pretty quickly after the events in the "past" timeline of its predecessor novel, it's firmly set in the past and rooted in a lot of politics. To be honest, I think I learned more about US relations with Cuba and the Cold War through reading this novel than I ever did in school (another reason why I love historical fiction, it's so educational)! About 100 or so pages in I started to become invested, especially as Beatriz takes on the role of a spy for the US government. I loved that she used her feminine skills to find out useful information and be an asset to her new country, rather than her being trained to be some sort of kick-ass assassin or something- strength and skills come in all different shapes and forms and Beatriz didn't change who she was for her espionage work, rather honed her pre-existing personality traits for the job.

I was also here for the romance- there's just something about historical fiction romance that feels so much more swoony and, well, romantic sometimes than modern romances (maybe just me?) and of course there was a lot of underlying scandal involved in it since it featured Beatriz. I was fascinated learning about the high society of Florida's elite in the 1960s and how it compared to the politics and upper class structure of Havana that the Perezes left behind. You can tell Chanel Cleeton did a lot of research for these novels and it definitely paid off.

If you hung around my blog last summer/fall, you probably heard me raving about my love for Next Year in Havana, a historical fiction novel that stole my heart with its dual timeline narrative, Latinx protagonists and gorgeous cover. As a first generation Latinx woman myself, I am always always always looking for more representation of my Latinx heritage in literature, and though I'm not Cuban I was deeply invested and moved by the story of the Perez family and their descendants. I was ecstatic to find that there was to be a sequel set in the 1960s following the sassy side character sister Beatriz and promptly added it to my must read books of 2019 shelf on Goodreads.

First and foremost I will admit that I didn't love When We Left Cuba quite as much as Next Year in Havana. Though it picks up pretty quickly after the events in the "past" timeline of its predecessor novel, it's firmly set in the past and rooted in a lot of politics. To be honest, I think I learned more about US relations with Cuba and the Cold War through reading this novel than I ever did in school (another reason why I love historical fiction, it's so educational)! About 100 or so pages in I started to become invested, especially as Beatriz takes on the role of a spy for the US government. I loved that she used her feminine skills to find out useful information and be an asset to her new country, rather than her being trained to be some sort of kick-ass assassin or something- strength and skills come in all different shapes and forms and Beatriz didn't change who she was for her espionage work, rather honed her pre-existing personality traits for the job.

I was also here for the romance- there's just something about historical fiction romance that feels so much more swoony and, well, romantic sometimes than modern romances (maybe just me?) and of course there was a lot of underlying scandal involved in it since it featured Beatriz. I was fascinated learning about the high society of Florida's elite in the 1960s and how it compared to the politics and upper class structure of Havana that the Perezes left behind. You can tell Chanel Cleeton did a lot of research for these novels and it definitely paid off.

Overall: While not quite as addictive as Next Year in Havana, When We Left Cuba is an educational and entertaining historical fiction novel that adds dashes of espionage and romance to the somber and serious setting of the Cold War. I hope Cleeton continues to write about this family because I really can't get enough!Overall: While not quite as addictive as Next Year in Havana, When We Left Cuba is an educational and entertaining historical fiction novel that adds dashes of espionage and romance to the somber and serious setting of the Cold War. I hope Cleeton continues to write about this family because I really can't get enough!This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages