Category: Gay/Lesbian/Bi Publisher: Ediciones la Gota de Agua
Type: Fiction
Pages: 221
Copyright: 2009
ISBN-13: 9780981930306
"Papaya Suite" is a book about a woman's adventures from adolescent self-discovery to the self-acknowledgment of adulthood. Its hero, Celeste, personifies the headstrong young adult who follows her dreams, ignoring failures and building on successes -- in essence, almost romping through life. It is a light-hearted accounting of a young woman growing up during the early years of the Cuban revolution, who is sent to Spain where her exploration of life begins in earnest and continues to expand when she moves to the United States.
"Papaya Suite" is a book about a Cuban woman's adventures beginning with adolescent self-discovery in her birth country of Cuba to her blossoming into young womanhood as an exile in Spain, to the self-acknowledgment of adulthood and maturation in the United States. Its hero, Celeste, personifies the headstrong young adult who follows her dreams, ignoring failures and building on successes -- in essence, almost romping through life. It is a light-hearted accounting of a young woman growing up during the early years of the Cuban revolution, who is sent to Spain where her exploration of life begins in earnest.Celeste takes joy in her varied sexual discoveries, living life in general with gusto.Her education – both formal and personal -- continues to expand when she moves to the United States.
Excerpt
Reluctant to leave the bay to the night’s caress, sunlight frolicked with sea ripples along the horizon, riding each playful crest one last time under a sky that changed from pink to orange to the depths of blue. Beyond the salty spray that splashed the seawall, cloud clusters set themselves ablaze to light the way out into the Gulf of Mexico.
The view was marred by two ships silhouetted against the evening sky. The charcoal and red Soviet freighters and tankers that docked in Havana Harbor brought with them an iridescent trail that slid over the surf and settled by the rocks at the foot of the seawall. There, dozens of small fish struggled against the scum until they gave up and floated on their sides. The toxic fumes clashed against the salty breeze over the city waterfront, echoing the merging between the frigid empire and the Caribbean island.
Havana, bringing in her wash of well-worn whites and faint ochres, prepared for another night of lovers’ whispers and soft music that rose above the grim reality of constant suspicion and vigilance. Years earlier, the smoke-filled piano bars had closed their doors to libidinous customers, and ritualistic Afro-Cuban batá drums had fallen silent by order of the new omnipotence. The dazzling neon signs had long become a memory, replaced by drab billboards covered with slogans that warned the enemy across the Florida Strait against any plans of invasion.
‘I have to go back soon,’ says Adam one afternoon. Yes, I know he has to go back soon. He has to go back to London and to his job and his apprenticeship. He has taken the maximum number of days leave – he has taken his entire Summer holiday in the Sp
A young technician mourns his lover until he meets another man - a man with a secret. But there are other secrets as a jealous ghost returns to protect his turf.
