Book Review: Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner

   This was a journey.  I picked up this book from the offerings on my library's Libby app.  I had been hoping to get the new history of Cuba but that is on hold. Honestly, I'm probably not going to love the new history of Cuba simply because I don't do that well with Non-fiction that doesn't have a "hook" if you will.  But, I have always been a little bit fascinated by Cuba, so I am still hoping to give that a go when it comes off hold at the library.  For now, the library suggested Telex from Cuba, and I thought... why not! 

   I was attracted by the title- the Telex is one of those odd parts of history that isn't well known, but was my ticket to the outside world when I was working in South Sudan. I did kind of wonder then, why Rachel Kushner  was writing a novel about Cuba.   Kushner's mother lived in the Oriente province during what seems to have been the heyday of the United Fruit Company.  So based on this, Kushner was able to flesh out a full novel which is both personal and historical in scope.  It's a bit of a feat to address this volatile time in Cuba's history, without straying into dramatic maudlin territory, but I think Kushner succeeds. 

      In this novel, readers are able to enter the American community in Cuba in the years preceding Castro's revolution.  We see the beauty and problems of the Cuban environment through the children of executives and leaders sent to Cuba to head the Fruit company and mining operations. It feels very much like a slice of tropical life. Telling the story through a multitude of viewpoints gives us a full immersion into the tense, frenetic situation leading up to the American expulsion in 1958. 

    What I enjoyed most about the novel was the "follow up"- we see the lives post revolution, and get to experience the odd sensation of having had something taken that was more precious now that it was gone. 

   While this book isn't the most popular, I really enjoyed the writing, the stories and the conclusion and do recommend it for readers interested in historical fiction, Cuba, and even the 1950's. 

First Published : 7/1/2008

Pages: 322

Available as an Audio Book :YES

Trigger Warnings: violent events, war violence, death, poverty, gun violence, drug and alcohol use,  bullying.  

Not a full TW list, please read responsibly.