Next Year in Havana

The fifth book in this series popped up as a Witherspoon pick in April of 2022, and since I refuse to read any of them out of order, I sought out the entire series. I had to blast through them because I checked this one out from the library, giving me only 21 days to finish the entire thing (piece of cake, but I had other books with library expiration dates too…so it came pretty close). I was immediately intrigued by this family and their story. Cleeton was able to paint a family portrait that was both beautiful and left me wanting so much more. Elisa’s story is one of strength and heartbreak, and I wanted to know all about her. While I don’t love the back-and-forth timelines, this one worked out well with Elisa’s granddaughter being the one to discover and then tell Elisa’s story. After finishing this book, I couldn’t wait to hear the remainder of the stories from this family.

I think I'm about to throw up from heartbreak. What an amazing novel, and what a captivating story. Those who know me, know I have a soft spot for anything involving Latin America, so I already had high expectations going into this, but this book went above and beyond and made me fall in love over and over again. Although at times I felt like the two narrators' voices were a bit too similar, I didn't mind because it seems to me like this was done on purpose. Plus, the passion in which Cuba is described took my breath away. A wonderful read. Highly, highly recommend.

Next Year in Havana is told from two perspectives. Elisa, exiled from Cuba with her family in 1959 after President Batista fled the country, and her granddaughter Marisol, who visits Cuba in 2017 to spread Elisa's ashes after she (and Fidel Castro) pass away. However, after entering Cuba and meeting Elisa's childhood best friend, Marisol learns about troubling family history and finds herself caught in a web of sociopolitical turmoil as she tries to better understand her grandmother, Cuba, and herself. Next Year in Havana is elegantly written, offering both beautiful and heartbreaking descriptions of Cuba. From Elisa and Marisol, you get similar views of Cuba from the perspective of those exiled so many years ago. From the characters that surround Marisol on her visit, you see Cuba from the perspective of "those who stayed" and how Cuba has treated them throughout the years. As someone who doesn't know much about Cuba's history, this was a wonderfully romantic and eye-opening read that encompasses everything I love about historical fiction - and I do see myself reading (or listening) to this book again. I recommend this to anyone who wants to get swept away in a read (while keeping maybe a toe or two in reality). That being said, I can't speak to how true or realistic the storylines are. While I enjoyed the narrative immensely, it does come across sometimes as simplistic. For me, that isn't an issue as I don't read historical fiction for nuance and realism - I'd rather read nonfiction for that. But if complexity is something you look for in historical fiction, I'd probably not recommend this one to you.