Find Me In Havana is a tragic story told in letters between a mother and a daughter. Before reading this, I had no idea of the life Estelita Rodriguez lived. For someone to go through so much heartache, and longing to find her place in this world to end up where she did was absolutely heartbreaking. The author did a fantastic job telling her story and made me want to pull for her.

Told in alternating points of view of both mother and daughter Estelita and Nina this a story of women's lives that takes you from Cuba to Hollywood. Estelita is the daughter of a mother whose life had become that of a traditional married woman in Cuba. When her husband gets swept up in support of the Batista revolution she looks to her daughters to make a way for their family. Her daughters Estelita and Danita have talent but Estelita is the breakout star. Estelita comes to Hollywood to make all her dreams of stardom come true, facing the standards of the times she is relegated to the sultry Latina siren roles and weekend singing gigs. Constantly married and divorced she is a woman trying to find her way in Hollywood and raise her daughter. Nina is that daughter. Not as beautiful as her mother she is a girl, then young woman seeking to find her way in the world as it changes around her. Her mother and grandmother try to give her as much as they can but Nina has her own share of tragedy in her life and figuring it all out is difficult. Give this story a try, it's a great insightful look into what life was like in Hollywood at that time, it's a tale of mothers and daughters and how tragedy can move, shake, shape and or destroy us.

i really enjoyed that this was a historical novel with a mystery twist. The characters were great and I really enjoyed going on this journey. The writing was done well and I really liked the way the author pulled you in.

Estelita Rodriguez is just nine years old when she begins singing in Havana, Cuba clubs. It is 1936 and her life will never be the same.

During the Cuban Revolution in 1933, her father lost everything and left them to join Batista. The family is now living in poverty, but Estelita’s mother sees how talented her daughter is and moves her to America.

Here she will sing at the Copacabana, meeting famous men, and getting offers to go to Hollywood. With her mother by her side and her daughter, Nina, they get caught up in the craziness that is the entertainment business.

But things aren’t as rosy as they would seem. She has the worst taste in men and has her heart broken many times.

Told to the author by Nina. When Nina’s mother dies, she has a lot of questions. The story is told in letters written from Mother to Daughter and Daughter to Mother.

What she finds will tell a story of the sacrifices, the humiliation, the ugly side of not only Hollywood but the ugliness of Cuba, and the rebels who kept them hostage and did unspeakable things to them.

There is no bond stronger than the one between mothers and daughters. This was a beautifully told account and I cried and laughed and was just in awe of the strength of these women.

This is a story that hurts. There is no attempt to make it into a fairy tale. And that raw emotion is what made my heartache for these women. There was no attempt to ‘pretty’ this up. It was honest and I loved it.

Very Well Done

NetGalley/January 12th, 2021 by Park Row Books

A beautifully-written and compelling novel based on a true story, this book will appeal to all kinds of readers. Estelita Rodriguez's life is fascinating and tragic, and here author Burdick uses information from her interviews with Rodriguez's daughter Nina to create a dialogue between mother and daughter that is honest and painful and revealing. Writing a novel about real people is difficult, and can often end up trite or superficial, but Burdick does an outstanding job of making this very real story meaningful and moving.