La Americana
A Memoir
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
La Americana is the story of Melanie Bowden Simón, who, at the age of twenty-five, left her job at Tina Brown’s Talk magazine following the death of her mother and decided to take a vacation in Havana, Cuba, with a friend. Little did she know that she would meet and fall in love with a Cuban man named Luis and dive headlong into a culture defined by beauty, humor, and grace within the unnerving realities of communism.
In this memoir, Simón details her fascination with Cuban culture as she grapples with the death of her mother. She also covers the struggle to get in and out of Cuba at a time when the country is labeled a pariah state. Yet over and over again, Simón manages to overcome international barriers and language and cultural obstacles—all in the name of her love for Luis.
This book makes a great read for those with an interest in Cuban history, a zest for romance, or a passion for travel.
Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Within six months of getting a cancer diagnosis, writer and journalist Bowden Sim n's mother is dead, setting her daughter off on an emotional roller-coaster of journey to Cuba, where she falls in love. Her account vividly captures the agony, joy, and peacefulness from this period in her life. Bowden Sim n is 25 in April 2001, four months after her mother's death; she leaves Talk and New York, desperate to get away from the city that reminds her too much of the mother with whom she shared her blond looks, a sense of humor, and a deep appreciation for theater. She meets Luis her first night in Havana when she jumps into his cab, and their very unexpected romance begins. He doesn't speak English, has a young child, and lives in an impoverished country where the average monthly income is $10 and the government funds a heavily armed military presence. Despite many odds, including a crackdown by President Bush, tougher restrictions on travel to Cuba, Luis's difficulty getting a visa, and the strangeness of how their connection looks to some, their relationship grows over visits, emails, and calls. Bowden Sim n's travels and struggles are beautifully rendered in this evocative valentine to her mother, Cuba, and the power of love in the unlikeliest of places to heal a broken heart and spirit.
