Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with sparkling beaches, lush jungles, and mountainous forests populated by animals found nowhere else on Earth.
It’s a beautiful place with a tough history: colonization, liberation, independence, revolution, and finally, communism. Fidel Castro ruled the Republic of Cuba for 50 years, with close ties to the Soviet Union (until its breakup in 1991) and a combative relationship with the United States, just 103 miles to the north.
But Cuba itself is colorful and welcoming. The capital city of Havana is a candy-colored dreamscape of charming pastel buildings, curvy American cars from the 1940s and ’50s, and everywhere: smiling, friendly people. The weather is hot and humid, so the rum cocktails are cold and sweet: mojitos and daiquiris and cube libre. Cigar smoke drifts out of doorways and through balcony windows, while vendors serve plates of food bursting with flavor, texture, and color: picadillo and plantains, yuca fries, congri, arroz con pollo.
And then there’s the music. Salsa and rumba and cha cha cha. Afro-Cuban jazz and mambo and timba. Guitars and maracas and bongos and cowbell. And literal dancing in the streets.
In this episode, we get real about Cuba’s charms and challenges, then discuss books that transported us to this island nation: a suspenseful police procedural set during the 1990s Special Period; a thrilling hour-by-hour recount of the Cuba missile crisis; a sweeping family saga that’s an ode to storytelling; a memoir that explores life in modern Cuba; and a boozy murder mystery that travels back to the glamorous (and dangerous) nightclubs of the 1950s. (show notes / transcript)
Top image courtesy of Florian Wehde/Unsplash.
Want to keep up with our book-related adventures? Sign up for our newsletter!
Can you help us? If you like this article, share it your friends!
Strong Sense of Place is a website and podcast dedicated to literary travel and books we love. Reading good books increases empathy. Empathy is good for all of us and the amazing world we inhabit.
Strong Sense of Place is a listener-supported podcast. If you like the work we do, you can help make it happen by joining our Patreon! That'll unlock bonus content for you, too — including Mel's secret book reviews and Dave's behind-the-scenes notes for the latest Two Truths and a Lie.
Join our Substack to get our FREE newsletter with podcast updates and behind-the-scenes info — and join in fun chats about books and travel with other lovely readers.
We'll share enough detail to help you decide if a book is for you, but we'll never ruin plot twists or give away the ending.
This 30-page Reading Atlas takes you around the world with dozens of excellent books and gorgeous travel photos. Get your free copy when you subscribe to our newsletter.
Content on this site is ©2024 by Smudge Publishing, unless otherwise noted. Peace be with you, person who reads the small type.
