The Price of Paradise by Susana Lopez Rubio: book review

The Price of Paradise (2019) is set in Havana, Cuba, from 1947 to 2005.

The narrator is 19-year-old Patricio Rubio Gamella, who has left a life of poverty in Spain for a better life in Cuba. He is a charming extrovert with a knack for sales. After a sales dare, he is rewarded with a job in the high-class luxury department store El Encanto, the place where wealthy locals and international celebrities shop.

His job is a runner—running errands for department staff: searching for merchandise in the storeroom, sweeping floors, cleaning windows, and minding a pack of poodles while their owner tries on hats. But no sales work.

Patricio sees legendary Hollywood stars and famous artists, such as Ava Gardner, Nat King Cole, and Ernest Hemingway.

He is captivated by an intelligent and beautiful customer, who enjoys talking to him. Gloria is the 25-year-old wife of César Valdés, a Cuban mobster.

Gloria is also a narrator in this novel. She tells of the time, at seven years old, when Albert Einstein, who was visiting Havana on his way to America, gave her a hat. And she tells of her marriage to the dangerous killer César Valdés.

Eventually, Patricio will pay the price of paradise.

This novel is not a sophisticated read, but the storyline is quite effective, given that most of it is set in a department store. It also maintains the suspense to nearly the end. The twists of fate, the betrayals and murders, from perfumed paradise to revolutionary Cuba, are enough to keep readers interested.

MARTINA NICOLLS

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog