Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novella uses the elemental story of Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman, to explore profound themes of dignity, perseverance, and humanity’s struggle against nature.
Set in a small fishing village near Havana, the narrative is a focused, powerful meditation on honor and resilience, capturing a spirit of tenacity central to the Cuban character. While universal in its appeal, the story is deeply rooted in the specific textures of Cuba’s coastal life.
Greene’s satirical spy novel finds humor and absurdity in pre-revolutionary Havana on the brink of change. The plot follows Jim Wormold, a struggling vacuum cleaner salesman who is accidentally recruited by British intelligence and begins inventing elaborate reports to earn a paycheck.
Through this darkly comic lens, Greene critiques the follies of Cold War espionage while painting a vivid picture of the political intrigue, corruption, and vibrant social scene of 1950s Havana under Batista.
A landmark of Cuban-American literature, García’s debut novel blends magical realism with poignant family drama to explore the fractures caused by exile.
Spanning three generations of women—one a staunch Castro supporter in Cuba, her daughter an exile in Brooklyn, and her granddaughter a punk-rock artist navigating her hybrid identity—the book masterfully illustrates how the revolution divided families, creating chasms of ideology, memory, and longing across the Florida Straits.
This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel chronicles the lives of two Cuban musician brothers, Cesar and Nestor Castillo, who emigrate to New York City in the 1950s. Their story is a bittersweet exploration of the immigrant experience, fame, and the powerful role of music in preserving cultural memory.
Rich with the rhythms of mambo and bolero, the narrative is steeped in nostalgia for a lost Cuba while simultaneously capturing the brothers' passionate, and ultimately tragic, pursuit of the American Dream.
The first in the celebrated “Havana Quartet” series, this novel introduces disillusioned police detective Mario Conde. Set in the 1990s during the harsh “Special Period,” the story uses the framework of a murder mystery to deliver a sharp, atmospheric portrait of a society grappling with scarcity, disillusionment, and moral compromise.
Padura provides an insider’s view of Havana, revealing the complex realities of daily life that exist behind the official state narrative.
This dual-timeline historical novel follows Cuban-American Marisol Ferrera, who travels to Havana after her grandmother’s death to fulfill a promise to scatter her ashes in her homeland.
The narrative alternates between Marisol’s contemporary journey of discovery and her grandmother Elisa’s secret past as a sugar baron’s daughter during the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s. Cleeton vividly contrasts Havana’s timeless beauty with the political turmoil that has shaped Cuban families for decades.
Set in the American expatriate enclaves of pre-revolutionary Cuba, Kushner’s ambitious debut novel examines the island’s social and political tensions just before Castro’s rise to power.
The story unfolds through multiple perspectives—including the children of American executives who run the United Fruit Company and nickel mines—to reveal a world of colonial privilege, racial inequality, and simmering rebellion. Kushner precisely recreates the atmosphere of a society on the verge of radical transformation.
García’s second novel returns to the theme of fractured families, telling the story of two long-separated sisters. Constancia, a successful cosmetics seller in Miami, embraces the American way of life, while Reina remains in Cuba, a fiercely independent electrician and geology enthusiast.
Their lives, shaped by a dark family secret, serve as a powerful allegory for the island and its diaspora, exploring the divergent paths Cubans have taken and the complex web of history, myth, and memory that still binds them.
A raw and unflinching look at Havana during the economic crisis of the 1990s, this novel is a prime example of Cuban “dirty realism.” Through a series of semi-autobiographical vignettes, Gutiérrez presents an unfiltered depiction of life on the margins, focusing on survival, sex, hunger, and hustle.
The prose is visceral and unapologetic, offering a stark counterpoint to romanticized portrayals of Cuba and capturing the desperation and hedonism of a city crumbling yet defiant.
A masterpiece by one of Cuba’s most important authors, this sweeping historical novel explores the impact of the French Revolution on the Caribbean.
The story follows three wealthy Cuban cousins who become entangled with the real-life historical figure Victor Hugues, a merchant who brings the ideals of "liberty, equality, and fraternity"—along with the guillotine—to the region.
Carpentier, a pioneer of magical realism, uses lush, baroque prose to examine the grand, often contradictory, forces of history as they play out in Cuba and beyond.
Set in 1898 during the final days of the Spanish-American War, this historical thriller blends adventure and suspense with Leonard’s signature sharp dialogue and colorful characters.
The plot centers on an American cowboy, Ben Tyler, who arrives in Havana to sell horses but quickly becomes embroiled in a scheme involving a beautiful Cuban revolutionary, a scheming plantation owner, and the impending American invasion.
Leonard vividly recreates the sights and sounds of a war-torn Havana, delivering a fast-paced tale of shifting alliances and survival.
This enchanting novel weaves together history, romance, and myth to tell the story of Cecilia, a journalist in modern-day Miami who listens to the tale of an old woman’s life, a journey that spans from 19th-century Africa and China to pre-revolutionary Havana.
The narrative intertwines multiple love stories across generations, using elements of magical realism to explore Cuba's multicultural roots and its identity as a crossroads of civilizations. It is a lyrical tribute to the power of stories and the enduring mystique of the island.
In this installment of the Arkady Renko series, the iconic Russian detective travels to Cuba to investigate the death of a friend from his days in Moscow. Arriving in a country reeling from the collapse of the Soviet Union, Renko navigates the complexities of the "Special Period," a time of extreme economic hardship and social change.
Smith excels at creating a thick, sultry atmosphere, using the crime plot to explore the resourceful, cynical, and resilient nature of Cuban society during a challenging transition.