A Hundred Fires in Cuba
Cuba under Batista was floundering politically, economically, and socially in the 1950s. In New York City, a young American photographer, Clare Miller, meets a restaurant dishwasher from Cuba, Camilo Cienfuegos. They fall in love, but when Camilo is arrested and deported, Clare is left with a daughter, Alameda. Clare and Camilo move on – he becomes Fidel Castro’s right-hand man in the Cuban revolution, and Clare marries a slightly older, wealthy Cuban, Domingo. Ideas and passionate feelings are explored during this time of great change, which spans Cuba, New York, and Costa Rica. Camilo and Clare have to make choices, choices which awaken a new definition of loyalty and love. Ideas surrounding wealth inequality and that which exists between sex and love are challenged, calling for unexpected responses.
Clare is a skillful characterization, risking all by questioning power, and also Camilo’s relationship to power. Camilo never loses his love for the revolutionary spirit, even after leaders horrifically turn against him in their quest for absolute power. Those who worked hard for Cuban prosperity lose everything so that the poor and middle class can achieve equality, though not by fair means. The disorder in Clare’s daughter’s life mirrors the chaos within her mother, especially when the men in her life randomly appear, bringing more upheaval. A Hundred Fires in Cuba is a poignant, lusty, passionate account of a turbulent, violent time in Cuban history. A phenomenal, great read!
