Book Review: “My Lost Cuba” by Celso Gonzalez-Falla

“My Lost Cuba” focuses on an affluent farming family during the 1950?s. Mike, the eldest son is summoned back to Cuba from his college studies in the United States to help out with the family business. Unlike his father, he is much more at ease with the workers and seems to be eager to see changes in Cuba. It is through Mike that we learn much about the lives of the ‘common man’ during this period of history

As a piece that gives insight into the social history of Cuba, this book is amazing. As a novel, however, I found the lacking. The story is simplistic and the tone is rather didactic. And in places it comes across as a book meant to teach history.  Crises emerge to show the reader the precarious nature of the Cuban government than to forward the plot. In the end I did not figure out how every single individual that needed to finds a love interest by the end of the book.

This book definitely satisfied my need to understand more about pre-Communist Cuba. It was insightful and interesting from a historical point of view. It is not, however, the type of book I would recommend to take on your beach vacation to Cuba. Unless you normally sun yourself by the pool with a huge tome of history, My Lost Cuba will not fit the bill. It is a book more for history buffs than those looking for a literary romp where they might learn something.

Full disclosure : This book was provided to the volunteer by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.