Telex From Cuba
by Rachel Kushner
Everly Lederer and K.C. Stites come of age in Oriente Province, where the Americans tend 300,000 acres of United Fruit Company sugar- cane, which surrounds their gated enclave. The rural tropics are a child’s paradise, yet Everly and K.C. have keen eyes for the indulgences and betrayals of the grown-ups around them—the excessive drinking and illicit loves, the race hierarchies and simmering violence.
When Fidel and Raul Castro lead a revolt from the mountains above the cane plantation, torching the sugar and kidnapping a boat full of “yan- qui” revelers, K.C. and Everly begin to discover the brutality that keeps the colony humming. If their parents remain blissfully untouched by the forces of history, the children hear the whispers of what is to come.
“Lush, meticulous, and cinematic” (Elle), Kushner’s novel is a tour de force, with the urgency of a telex from a forgotten time and place. (USA Today)
No comments:
Post a Comment