The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba
Book Feature - The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
HBL Note: “Yes, yes, yes. My answer is always yes to anything written by Chanel Cleeton.” That was my actual response to Chanel’s publicist when she asked about featuring Chanel Cleeton’s latest novel, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN CUBA. I’ve read and reviewed all of Chanel’s books, including Next Year in Havana, When We Left Cuba, and The Last Train to Key West. I loved them all. This novel is about Evangelina Cisneros, a Cuban woman who changed the course of American history. Scroll down to read more.
Book Feature - The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
Book Feature - The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
From the publisher:
It’s 1896, and while New York is absorbed in the glitz and glamour of the Gilded Age, Cuba is occupied by Spanish forces. Eighteen-year-old Evangelina Cisneros is living in political exile with her father in Cuba when she catches the attention of a prominent Spanish official. After rejecting his advances, she is imprisoned in Recogidas―a deplorable women’s prison center, considered by historians to be the first use of modern reconcentration camps.
At the same time, a fierce competition for dominance in the news cycle is led by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. Their newspapers battle for headlines and readership―to earn money, but also to influence public opinion. Budding young journalist Grace Harrington is trying to make a name for herself in the industry, and takes a job writing for Hearst. Grace catches wind of the conditions in Cuban prisons, and is assigned to report on Evangelina’s story. When Hearst names Evangelina “The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba,” slapping her picture across the front page of his newspaper, he sparks a groundswell for American intervention in the battle for Cuban independence.
As the United States becomes increasingly involved in Cuba’s affairs, Marina Perez, a young Cuban woman, undercover informant, and member of Cleeton’s beloved fictional Perez family, carries critical information about the explosion of the USS Maine that further propels the US into conflict.
Book Feature - The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
