The Cuba Saga by Chanel Cleeton

Currently included in the Audible Plus catalog, Next Year in Havana was a fantastic audiobook, and I listened to it in a matter of days. Telling the multi-generational story of a Cuban-American family exiled from Cuba after Castro came to power, Chanel Cleeton taught me more about Cuban (and Floridian) history than I ever got in school.

With various layers to the narrative, Cleeton’s Next Year in Havana had the potential to be confusing or disorienting, but was anything but. She leads the reader through the political unrest of then-and-now with a deft hand. I almost didn’t want it to end, until I realized it was part of a series!

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Book two tin Chanel Cleeton’s Cuba Saga series, When We Left Cuba tells the story of a side character from Next Year in Havana. When We Left Cuba focuses on Beatriz Perez, one of the Perez sisters who fled Cuba in book one, as she is recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Fidel Castro’s inner circle.

Beatriz’s story is full of drama, politics, and heart-stopping espionage. Though much of the novel is set in Florida, the story tells the plight of Cuba under Castro in engrossing detail. It also pulls in contemporary American politics, which offers an interesting vantage point of many of the moments we all learned about in U.S. history classes.

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

The Last Train to Key West predates both of the previous books in Chanel Cleeton’s Cuba Saga (Next Year in Havana and When We Left Cuba). This book follows the parallel stories of three women in the Florida Keys as a terrible hurricane approaches: one, a native to the area; the second, an earlier family member to the Perez family in books one and two; and, three, a fallen debutant (also related to a figure in book 2).

Over the Labor Day weekend of 1935, all three women are caught in one of the most powerful hurricanes in history. As a Floridian myself, I found so many parts of the storm prep so relatable (IE: the unreliable weather forecasting) that it hardly seemed like the book was set in the ’30s.

The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

In book four of her Cuba Saga, Chanel Cleeton jumps back in time to 1896, giving readers a glimpse into a Perez ancestor assisting Cuban revolutionaries during a period of forced reconcentration camps for Cuban citizens.

Marina Perez finds herself a spy in the efforts to release an unjustly imprisoned eighteen-year-old woman, Evangelina Cisneros, who dreamt of a Cuba free from Spanish oppression.

In all, the novel is a compelling glimpse into Spanish and Cuban history that will make you want to learn more.

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Stepping away from Cuba and South Florida as a primary setting, Our Last Days in Barcelona gives Chanel Cleeton’s readers insight into two more Perez sisters, along with their tight-lipped mother.

Time hopping between 1936 and 1964 Barcelona, Spain, the novel shows how the past and present intersect, with mother and daughter sharing similar situations where they have to choose between family expectations and their own desires.

Our Last Days in Barcelona by Chanel Cleeton is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

The latest release in Cleeton’s Cuba Saga, The Cuban Heiress moves away from the Perez family to tell the story of the Morro Castle pleasure voyage. Part romance, part murder mystery, The Cuban Heiress allows two female protagonists to join forces against a would-be murderer.

This novel really could be a stand-alone volume, not part of the Cuba Saga, but it certainly follows the themes of the previous novels. There is less about Cuban history as a whole here, and more social history. All in all, an interesting glimpse into a unique point in history.

The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.