Telex from Cuba

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Rachel Kushner's debut novel is a wise and riveting exploration of the American community in Cuba before Castro's revolution, focusing on the paradise that existed for a select few. It uniquely tells the story of Americans driven out in 1958. Young Everly Lederer and K.C. Stites grow up in Oriente Province, where they inhabit a world of three hundred thousand acres of United Fruit Company sugarcane, surrounded by their gated enclave. While the rural tropics seem like a child's dream, Everly and K.C. are acutely aware of the adult indulgences and betrayals around them—mordant drinking, illicit loves, race hierarchies, and violence. Meanwhile, in Havana, a cabaret dancer meets French agitator Christian de La Mazire, whose charm hides a troubled past. Together, they become involved in the political underground as Fidel and Raul Castro lead a revolt from the mountains, igniting tensions that threaten the American colony. While their parents remain blissfully ignorant of the historical forces at play, the children begin to sense the impending turmoil. Kushner's novel is a haunting and compelling narrative, echoing the urgency of a telex from a forgotten era.