Love and Ghost Letters

Acevedo's debut, a haunting story set in mid-century Cuba and Florida, spans more than 30 years and illuminates the estranged daughter-presumed-dead-father dynamic between Josefina and her police sergeant father, Antonio. When Josefina, predicted from birth to lead an ""unhappy and tormented"" life, marries the aimless, yet romantic, Lorenzo, she abandons her well-to-do Havana upbringing and moves to impoverished El Cotorro, prompting her father to sever their relationship. As the book progresses through Cuba's torrid history, Antonio is forced to head to El Cotorro to quell a student riot, where he is presumed dead after disappearing and secretly seeking a life of exile in Miami. Once settled, Antonio, needing to reconcile his unsettled relationship with his daughter, writes her letters that she believes have been sent from beyond the grave. Acevedo captures a magical, dreamlike mood, relating Josefina's memories of her nursemaid's stories of saints and rituals, which sets the stage for Lorenzo's transformation into a selfish womanizer and Josefina's predictable love affair with the ""guardian angel"" her father had sent to watch over her. This multi-layered epic paints an intriguing picture of pre- and post-Castro Cuba and is a promising debut for Acevedo.