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Get Breaking News on your cellMayra Montero's "Dancing to Almendra"
3:15 PM Wed, Jan 30, 2008 | Permalink
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March 2008
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In case you missed it, Mayra Montero’s reading at the Latino Cultural Center last week was pretty interesting. Only about 10 people showed up. Montero, who is Cuban by birth but now lives in Puerto Rico, read from her newest novel, Son de Almendra (English: Dancing to Almendra). It’s set in 1950s Cuba, during a time when many American Mafia leaders — including Meyer Lansky — were living in Havana. I had no idea that even happened (perhaps I should have paid attention more in history class), and that alone was interesting enough on its own. But the book is a love story, too. And a thriller. The meat of the novel follows a young reporter as he tries to solve the murder of Albert Anastasia, a real-life mafioso who died in New York in 1959. The snippet Montero read was set in the Tropicana, the famous Cuban cabaret. One of the book’s protagonists, a one-armed former circus performer named Yolanda, had just met the love of her life: A Cuban choreographer with leprosy named Roderico “Rodney” Neyra. (Circus performer? Leprosy? Yes, it’s all in here.) Like Anastasia, Rodney was a real person, too. Montero weaves fact and fiction throughout the entire thing. She's a journalist in Puerto Rico, in addition to being a novelist. I think everyone in the crowd bought books. To read Amazon reviews of Dancing to Almendra, go here. |
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