La Americana: A Memoir

Within six months of getting a cancer diagnosis, writer and journalist Bowden Simón’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 Simón 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 Simón’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. [em](July) [/em]