Chanel Cleeton’s Next Year in Havana is the perfect early summer novel. Not only did I fall quickly for Cleeton’s characters but she describes Cuba in such detail that you feel like you are there (Think Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights ). The novel flip flops between 1958 and 2017 but the connections between the characters and their circumstances are very prominent.
In 1958 we follow Elisa Perez, the daughter of an elite sugar plantation owner in Havana. Elisa is witnessing the Cuban Revolution from the walls of her mansion in the wealthy part of town. She and her siblings are very privileged and shielded from much of the cruelties that come with the revolution… at least initially. Elisa’s father supports Cuban dictator Batista whom the U.S backs at the time. The rebels are fighting with Fidel Castro who is supporting a revolution and promising the poor an end to the Cuban elite. Elisa falls in love with a rebel fighter, Pablo, very unexpectedly while out at a party. Their love story is brief as he is often away fighting for the cause but their connection remains strong through dozens of love letters over their courtship. When Castro’s rebels are finally successful at running Batista out of the country, many of Batista’s supporters decide to leave Havana due to the fear that they may not be safe under the new ruler. Elisa’s parents and siblings are one of these families and she leaves Cuba with much more than a broken heart.
While we delve deeper into Elisa and Pablo’s love story the novel also introduces Marisol Ferrera, the granddaughter of Elisa Perez who in 2017 is a freelance writer of fluff pieces for a travel publication. She too is the product of a wealthy family living in Miami, Florida where the Perez family settled after leaving Cuba. She has a close bond to her grandmother Elisa and after her death, she is left with the task of taking Elisa’s ashes back to Havana to be scattered. Elisa leaves little instruction on where she wants her final resting place to be but she is confident that Marisol will figure it out. In 2017 after Castro’s death the travel ban between the U.S and Cuba had been lifted and Marisol is finally able to visit Havana, a place her heart longed for her whole life. While there she meets Luis, the grandson of Elisa Perez’s old next door neighbor. Luis is also a revolutionary for his time, eager for new leadership after Castro’s death and hopes for progression for his country. Ultimately Marisol learns a lot about her grandmother’s past all while growing to love Cuba as much as Elisa did.
While reading this novel I found myself thinking a lot about what I would do in Elisa’s circumstance. What if I loved someone who was from a completely different background with very different beliefs? What if our love was literally separated by a revolution and our happiness depended on the outcome of war? I would hope that I would be as brave as Elisa and Pablo were and fight not only for my relationship but also for the livelihood of my family and my country. This novel was enlightening and I learned a lot about Cuba’s history while enjoying the plot and character development. Overall Next Year in Havana was an enjoyable read and one that I would recommend to all fans of historical fiction.
2 Book Girls 