A Novel - Translated from the Spanish by Andrew Hurley.
From Cuba's hottest young writer comes a tale of one woman's spiritual and sexual awakening under the soul-destroying Castro regime.
In language that is mesmerising, sensuous and vivid, Zoe Valdes celebrates Cuba, while at the same time exploring the universal themes of love and loss.
The numbing rhythm of daily life in poverty-stricken Havana has deadened Danae's mind and spirit. A woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, she flees Havana without explanation, leaving behind her an abusive and desperate husband and two young daughters.
She retreats to the countryside of her youth, where the Castro Government had sent her and other teenagers in the late 1970s to work in the fields. She longs to find her 'dear first love' - the charismatic Tierra.
When they finally meet again after all these years, their lives are transformed and their love and its mysteries is reborn. But the return to Havana proves to be the ultimate test of love, not only for Danae and Tierra, but also for Danae's desperate family.
