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Book Cover for: Broken Paradise, Cecilia Samartin

Broken Paradise

Cecilia Samartin

Cuba, 1956: Cousins Nora and Alicia are accustomed to living among Havana's privileged class -- but their lavish dinners, days at the beach, and extravagant dances come to an end after Castro's rise to power. Food becomes scarce, religion is forbidden, and disease runs rampant. Although Alicia stays behind while Nora emigrates to the United States, both of their identities are challenged as they try to adapt to the changes forced upon them. As the situation in Cuba deteriorates, Alicia is beset by bad fortune, while Nora -- whose heart is still in Cuba -- painfully assimilates into middle-class U.S. culture. Letters between the cousins track their lives until Alicia's situation becomes so difficult that Nora is forced to return and help. But what she finds in Cuba is like nothing she ever imagined.

Told with wrenching insight into the tender balance between the hope and grief that shapes the immigrant heart, Broken Paradise is an extraordinarily powerful novel about passion, love, and the heart's yearning for home.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Atria Books
  • Publish Date: Feb 1st, 2008
  • Pages: 368
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.26in - 5.38in - 0.98in - 0.70lb
  • EAN: 9781416550396
  • Categories: Historical - GeneralLiteraryHispanic & Latino - General

About the Author

Samartin, Cecilia: - Cecilia Samartin was born in Havana in the midst of Fidel Castro's revolution. She grew up in Los Angeles as a fully bicultural, bilingual American. She studied psychology at UCLA and marriage and family therapy at Santa Clara University. Deeply concerned with the lack of Spanish speakers in her profession, Cecilia has practiced within the Latino communities in some of the most impoverished inner-city areas of San Jose and Los Angeles. She lives with her British-born husband in San Gabriel, California.

Praise for this book

"Gripping, poignant, and enlightening...a profound meditation on the complexities of the human heart and the redeeming power of love."
-- Carlos Eire, National Book Award-winning author of Waiting for Snow in Havana
"It's like drinking a full bottle of Cabernet by yourself."
-- New Zealand Public Radio
"I dare anyone not to be moved...the book is ultimately uplifting -- a testimony to the strength of love and the human spirit."
-- Traveller Magazine
"A heart wrenching story of separation, love, and redemption gently told through two cousins as they confront the political realities of Castro's revolution and its aftermath. This is a story I can truly identify with. It is a story that Cecilia Samartin has told with astounding courage and grace."
-- Viviana Carballo, author of Havana Salsa: Stories and Recipes
"Cecilia Samartin delivers a novel rich in passion, heartbreak and love. Broken Paradise captures the textures and rhythms of my homeland of Cuba with its musical, agile prose and kept me engrossed to the last page. An important, timely work of fiction, it goes to the heart of what it means to be an exile. A truly American story."
-- Victor Rivas Rivers, actor and author of A Private Family Matter
"A nostalgic story that sieves smoothly in the folds of our memory, transporting us to a universe of flavors, unforgettable colors and Cuban landscapes. A tribute to those who live far from their homelands."
-- Javier Sierra, author of New York Times bestseller The Secret Supper
"Cecilia Samartin writes with shimmering grace about homeland and exile, passion and loyalty...A richly textured story, sensuous and haunting."
-- Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander
"She spins a gripping tale."
-- Kirkus Reviews