For those of you that haven't or couldn't attend book club lately, we'll be publishing the previous months' discussion questions here. I hope eventually to post discussion questions for all of the books we've covered since I took over a couple of years ago and beyond, all the way to the beginning over a decade and a half ago. It will take a while. Until then, we will be posting discussion questions on a weekly basis. Here are the questions from our May title, Next Year in Havana. We hope these questions spark discussions of your own.
Next Year In Havana
by Chanel Cleeton
Summary:
A HELLO SUNSHINE x REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK
“A beautiful novel that's full of forbidden passions, family secrets and a lot of courage and sacrifice.”—Reese Witherspoon
After the death of her beloved grandmother, a Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity—and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution...
Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba's high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country's growing political unrest—until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary...
Miami, 2017. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa's last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth.
Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba's tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she'll need the lessons of her grandmother's past to help her understand the true meaning of courage.
Discussion Questions
There were so many terrific sites with questions for this book that I have chosen a couple of external sites as well to offer different perspectives.
Official Discussion Questions
The novel alternates between Elisa Perez’s life in Cuba in 1958 and 1959 and her granddaughter Marisol Ferrera’s trip to Cuba in 2017. Which woman did you identify with more? What parallels can you see between their personalities and their lives? What differences?
The first chapter ends with Elisa wondering how long her family will be away from Cuba. The final chapter ends over a decade later with her posing the same question. How are the themes of hope and exile illustrated in the book? How does the weight of exile affect the Perez family
When Marisol arrives in Cuba she struggles with identifying as Cuban because she grew up in the United States and because she has never set foot on Cuban soil. How much does a physical place define one’s identity? How does Marisol’s trip alter her views about being Cuban and change her perception of herself? How do Marisol and her family attempt to keep their heritage alive in exile? Are there stories and rituals handed down through the generations in your family
Like her grandmother, Marisol falls in love with a man who has revolutionary political leanings. What similarities can you see between Pablo’s and Luis’s dreams for Cuba? What differences are there in their worldview? How do they go about achieving their dreams for a better Cuba
Sacrifice is a major theme that runs throughout the novel. How do the characters make sacrifices for one another, and what are some examples of them risking their safety and security for their loved ones? How do you think you would have acted in similar situations
Family plays an important role in the novel, and each of the characters face their own struggles in their attempts to live up to their family’s expectations. What are some examples of this? Did you identify with one character’s point of view more? Are there certain expectations in your own family? Do you feel the need to live up to them? How have they shaped your life decisions
Elisa’s final wish is to have her ashes scattered over Cuban soil. Do you agree with her decision? Would you have wanted your ashes spread in Cuba or would you have preferred to be buried on American soil? Do you think Marisol picked the best place to spread Elisa’s ashes? Where else would you have considered scattering them? Have you scattered the ashes of a loved one? What was the experience like
What initially attracts Elisa to Pablo? Do you believe they would have been able to overcome the differences between them if they weren’t caught in the midst of the Cuban Revolution? Or was their love fueled by the urgency of the times
Elisa chooses to save her letters from Pablo and her memories of their romance by burying them in a box in the backyard. If you had a box in which to bury your most precious possessions, what would you choose to keep safe
What parallels do you see between life in modern Cuba and life in pre-revolutionary Cuba? What differences
Pablo tells Elisa that everything is political. Do you agree with him
Despite coming from very different backgrounds, Marisol and Luis share many similarities that bring them together as a couple. What are some examples of this? Why do you think they get along so well? Do you think they are a good influence on each other
Pablo believes that the best way to change his country is from within. Others like Elisa’s family choose to leave Cuba because they can no longer support the regime. Which approach do you identify with? What are the differences between the Cubans who remained in Cuba and those who live in exile? What are the similarities?
Unofficial Questions by BookClubChat.com
What was your knowledge of Cuba prior to the reading the novel? How has it changed or evolved after reading it?
Which perspective between Elisa and Marisol did you relate to more? Did you enjoy one storyline over the other?
Let’s first talk about Elisa’s romance with Pablo. If it wasn’t for the circumstances that got in their way, do you think their romance would have lasted?
Were you surprised Pablo was still alive? Do you think Marisol and her family will ever go back to Cuba to see him?
Marisol and Luis fell for each other quickly. While it seemed they would part ways, there was the twist where Luis had to flee Cuba and join Marisol in the U.S. What was your impression of their romance and do you think they’re in it for the long haul? Can people fall in love in a matter of days?
What did you think about the differences between those who stayed in Cuba and those who left it and came to the U.S.? What sacrifices did both have to make?
There is lots of political talk throughout the novel from all types of perspectives. What did you think of this story choice?
Cultural identity is also a big theme with many are like Marisol born and raised in one country yet their heritage lies in another. Do you relate to Marisol’s longing to find belonging in Cuba? How do you think Luis will adjust to the U.S.?
The U.S./Cuba relations was strained for decades, lessen for a bit but now there are restrictions again. What do you think the relationship can be in the future? Do you think you’ll ever visit Cuba if given the chance?
Unofficial Questions by Owlcation
Why would most people ask Marisol about her writing, where she had been published or how successful she is, but Luis asked instead, if she enjoyed it? Did that show of glimmer of the type of person he is? How did he measure success?
The exiles in Miami and around the world hate Castro because? How is their anger different from that of the Cuban who stayed?
What were the things Elisa chose to save in her box? What do you think Marisol might have saved in a box? What would you have kept and buried?
For Elisa, why was marriage for status, for wealth, and for family? Why was love a luxury for the poor? How did this affect her decisions?
How could Elisa both envy Alejandro for casting off the weight and responsibility of being a Perez, and also envy him at the same time? Was family or country higher for his loyalties? What about for Elisa or for Marisol? Are lines crossed when one crosses the boundaries of another?
How did money buy the Perez family proximity to power, but also create a target on their backs? Where is "the difference between sin and survival" when they did not agree with many of Batista’s policies? Does the benefit they received from his power automatically damn them in the eyes of some of their countrymen?
How was it different to be a woman in Cuba in the 50’s and 60’s, from what Elisa could do versus her father, or Pablo, or Alejandro? Did the same differences exist for Marisol and Luis, or his mother and grandmother?
While Elisa’s sisters were her friends joined by birth, how was there "freedom in having a friend [Ana] with whom I can be myself, without the expectations and strings of family dynamics and drama"? In what ways did Ana continue to show herself to be Elisa’s friend?
How could Elisa love someone who had taken a life? Was he "really different from the men who give orders behind desks, who are equally responsible for the bloodshed even if the violence is carried out in their authority and not by their neatly manicured hands? "Where do matters of right and wrong fall in times of war?" Were Pablo and Alejandro soldiers or criminals?
In speaking of the revolutionaries, Luis said I didn't necessarily say there were good ones...Merely men who died before they made the full transition from liberating heroes to tyrants." Where is the line between hero and tyrant? Is it a slow progression, and how do you think it came about for many of these men, especially Castro and Guevara?
Why is the Cuban convertible peso so important? Why do some Cuban doctors and lawyers spend their free time working in hotels in Cuba?
What is "so ironically vicious" about the fact that, at La Cabaña, "You can gawk at the world’s largest cigar in the site where we bled"?
What are the food rations like in Cuba? Is there ever excess, or even enough? How is that a contrast to how the tourists live when they visit, or how most Americans live? Why was Marisol "filled with the deepest amount of shame" thinking about all the food she had taken for granted in her life?
What did Marisol mean when she quoted Animal Farm "All are equal, but some are more equal than others"?
Why is there a generational divide on the Cuban embargo with the US? How did Marisol’s grandparents’ generation feel about "giving Fidel anything" and why?
What does the toast mean "Next year in Havana"?
What did Elisa mean "there are no saints in Havana"?
Why was the need to know the truth, to understand where she came from, so powerful for Marisol?
Why is the spirit behind the word ojalá "so quintessentially Cuban, incrementally beyond hope?"
Elisa (and Marisol) hated the Argentinian Che Guevara, whom some still in Cuba herald as a hero. Why did his nationality add insult to injury? Though she didn’t know about it at the time, what cruelties would Che be responsible for in the prison at Santa Clara? What did it mean that "Che likes his schedules"?
Why, after the revolution, when Batista left the country in Fidel was in power, did those closest to him fear him most? Shouldn’t they have been reveling in their victory?
Why did Marisol’s American nationality only afford her so much protection in Cuba? Why is Cuba still dangerous, even for her, a journalist? How is Luis "just one Cuban in a long list of human rights abuses"?
"Is it better to stay and become part of the system, or leave and be considered a traitor?" How did the speaker of this quote try to be a counterbalance of some of the more extreme notions over the years?
How is Cuba a “world where you have no rights” and though America also has injustices, what are some of its mechanisms that protect its citizens from a life like that in Cuba?
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