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Broken Paradise: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Manufacturer: Atria Books
Category: EBooks
List Price: $11.99
Buy New: $9.59
You Save: $2.40 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 24222
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
ASIN: B000NY11YW
Publication Date: March 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
In Broken Paradise Cecilia Samartin offers heart wrenching insight into the tender balance between hope and grief that shapes the immigrant heart and exposes the struggles of everyday people amid political turmoil. Cuba, 1956: Cousins Nora and Alicia are accustomed to living among Havana's privileged class -- lavish dinners, days at the beach, dances, and dresses. Their idyllic lives take a turn for the worst after Castro's rise to power. Food becomes scarce, religion is forbidden, and disease is rampant. Alicia stays behind while Nora emigrates to the United States and struggles in an unfamiliar land. Both of their identities are challenged as they try to adapt to the changes forced upon them. The situation in Cuba deteriorates and Alicia is beset by bad fortune, while Nora painfully assimilates into middle-class U.S. culture. Her heart, however, remains in Cuba. 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 has ever imagined. Broken Paradise is an extraordinarily powerful novel about passion, love, and the heart's yearning for home.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
Excellent Read August 7, 2008
The book is captivating from beginning to end. I have also finished the author's second novel, Tarnished Beauty, and am now officially a fan of the author. This is a must read!
Crys McKinley, Real Ladies Read Book club
A Story for All!! July 28, 2008
This story was fanfreakintastic!!! The story is one that all can relate too. With each chapter you are emerged into life, the love, and the culture. Not only will you be enlightened by the story, but it will further your compassion for the next man. Highly recommend for all!!!
Kenae
Real Ladies Read Book Club
Broken Paradise February 16, 2008
THE MAN IS STILL THERE! Not having a broad background of Cuban history, I found this book to be a great insight into the revolution and Castro's takeover and the true impact on its people and how they survive and our role as Americans. The author writes from a personal perspective, having been born in Cuba in the 60's. She develops interesting and memorable characters, with two cousins as the main focus. I did not want to put this book down. This makes a great bookclub read and I cannot wait to read her next book!
Great Read! February 12, 2008
I really enjoyed this novel. I really got involved with the characters.
You laugh, you cry- nothing is missing. Delightful. It would make
a great movie.
 From paradise to hell to paradise to hell and back again October 30, 2007
A heartbreaking story of communist Cuba
Beautifully written novel filled with metaphors. Nora, the narrator, forever reflects on her life in the medium of dreams. Alicia's life is always filled with metaphors, specifically in her letters to Nora. Follow the sad story of Alicia, who is left behind in Cuba. Marrying a handsome communist, birthing his handicapped baby, and then resorting to prostitution in hopes of escaping poverty. Alicia is afraid of losing her baby to the state. She is ever hopeful that her handsome husband will be released from prison. She befriends a guard with food, cigarettes, and sex just to preserve her husband. (Why is his release taking so long?) Alicia relies on the companionship of a prostitute friend.
Meanwhile, cousin Nora is living a "normal" American life. Yes, Nora and sister, Marta, struggle to adjust, but they have an easy life, esp compared to Alicia's. Alicia conveys her pain in beautiful letters filled with emotions, metaphors, and hope. Perhaps the saddest loss is that of Alicia's precious beach, a beach where she communicated with GOD.
What happens when Nora leaves behind her middle class life, husband included, to help Alicia? Will Nora adjust to the poverty in Havana? What exactly is wrong with Alicia and her child? And how will Nora reconcile her allegiance to native country and family with her "American marriage"? What type of love comes first? That to an Anglo spouse, or to an impoverished prostitute cousin? Samartin doesn't coat the finale in flan, you'll won't be able to stop reading once you read of Nora's adventures in the Atlantic Ocean. Only at the very end can we breathe a sigh of relief... for... Nora? Alicia? Alicia's child? Read and find out!
(Warning- Description of a Santeria ritual, spirit communication, etc. DO NOT try any of this! It is EVIL. I'm disappointed that Samartin would have to include the ritual.)
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