Synopses & Reviews
An enchanting multigenerational epic of three familiesafrom Africa, Spain, and Chinaaand their bond to one another and the island they call home.
Cecilia is alone in a city that haunts her. Life in Miami evokes memories of Cuba: a scent in the breeze like the sea at the MalecA3n; the beat of a clave recalls island evenings when couples danced to forgotten rhythms. Far from her family, her history, and her home, Cecilia seeks refuge in a bar in Little Havana, where a mysterious old womanas fascinating tale keeps her returning night after night.
It is a story of three families from opposite corners of the worldafrom Africa, Spain, and Chinaathat spans more than a century. Within it, a Chinese widow seeks protection for her daughter in her familyas idols; an African slave brings the rhythms of her birth to an enchanted island; and a curse dances before the female descendants of a charmed Spanish matriarch, forming the mythic origins of one familyas indestructible bond. The connection strengthens with each generation into a legendary, unbreakable love. Under the storyas heady sway, Cecilia begins to discover the source of the elusive shadows that plague her and, along with it, a link to the past she cannot shake.
From DaA-na Chaviano, a distinctive literary voice available to English-speaking readers for the first time, comes this multifaceted portrait of the Cuba of this century. As haunting as it is tantalizing, The Island of Eternal Love is an ambitious, provocative, and magical novel that uncovers the secrets of a woman, a family, and an islandaall in one spellbinding tale.
Review
"Passionate...satisfying."
-Chicago Sun- Times
"A rich, moving, musical novel."
-Locus magazine
"[An] ambitious novel."
-Sun-Sentinel
"Rich, satisfying...this work is an absolute delight."
-Library Journal
Synopsis
From award-winning author Chaviano comes this enchanting multigenerational epic of three families--from Africa, Spain, and China--and their bond to one another and the island they call home.
Synopsis
A magical new novel "of loss and love across more than a century of Cuba's past."(Chicago Sun-Times)Alone in a city that haunts her, far from her family, her history, and the island she left behind, Cecelia seeks refuge in a bar in Little Havana where a mysterious old woman's fascinating tale keeps Cecelia returning night after night. Her powerful story of long-vanished epochs weaves the saga of three families from far-flung pieces of the world whose connection forms the kind of family that Cecelia has long been missing-one cast from legendary, unbreakable love. As Cecelia falls under the story's heady sway, she discovers the source of the visions that plague her, and a link to the past she cannot shake.
About the Author
Daína Chaviano is the award-winning author of several novels published in Spanish. Winner of the acclaimed Azorín Award for Best Novel for El hombre, la hembra y el hambre (Man, Woman and Hunger), her most recent work, The Island of Eternal Love, was the recipient of the 2007 Florida Book Awards’ Gold Medal for Best Spanish Language Book and has been translated into twenty languages around the world. A Havana native, Chaviano has lived in Miami since 1991.