Chanel Cleeton, you've done it again!

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba follows three revolutionary women risking life and love for freedom. Grace Harrington is trying to become a published journalist during the newspaper wars of the Gilded Age. She comes into the press room of William Randolph Hearst to find her voice, and finds so much more. Evangelina Cisneros, who will be known as The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, is unjustly imprisoned in Havana for rebuking the advances of a Spanish official. Her escape and plight earn her notoriety across the United States. Marina Perez (Yes! Another Perez woman!) is working as a secret courier in the fight for Cuban Independence while she fights to stay alive within the horrific reconcentration camps. Cleeton perfectly embodies the spirit of different international and multigenerational movements within the women of The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, and the stories that come from it are unforgettable.

There's so much to unpack from this book, and I'm not sure whose story I loved the most! I probably liked Marina's best, as I have always (and will always!) love any Perez woman! Marina seemed like the perfect blend of Elisa and Beatriz - daring, compassionate, complex, with an undying love for her family.

I appreciated Grace's story for its critique of the press wars of the Gilded Age. Grace, an homage to Nellie Bly and the like, jumps right out of the page and seems to be an honest narrator of the good, bad and mostly ugly when it came to the press' alarmist coverage and Hearst's pushing towards the USA's involvement in Spanish/Cuban relations.

Cleeton writes about Evangelina, The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, in such a thoughtful way, giving a voice to so many other victims of the Spanish oppression in Cuba who were not deemed "young," "pure," 'pretty," enough to save. (Sadly, we know this tale all too well.)

Last, I am a person who whole-heartedly enjoys context to a story. I always look forward to Cleeton's notes at the end of her books! I learn so much from her writing, and she consistently cites her sources, giving me an abundance of exciting memoirs and history books to add to my TBR!

If you enjoyed - any of Cleeton's other Cuba books, Netflix's Las Chicas del Cable, Evie Dunmore's League of Extraordinary Women series, Netflix's The Crown, Les Miserables, or Good Girls Revolt - you'll love The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba!

The story of three strong women who are fighting for what they believe in.  Two of which are fighting for their freedom and their lives as Cuba is trying to free itself from Spain.  The story is based on real events in history and includes many characters who really existed such as William Hearst, Joseph Pulitizer, and Evangelina Cisneros.

I was completely immersed and fully felt as though I was in late 1800s Cuba and NYC.  
Chanel Cleeton has a way of writing that brings you right to the heart, emotion, and action of times and places we will never truly be able to visit. From the Cuban revolution and fight for independence from Spain to the newsrooms of Pulitzer and Hearst, I was able to travel through time and the world without ever leaving my home - and as a person who begins learning about history through fiction, I highly recommend "The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba" to learn about a culture, revolution, and period of time essential to understanding our own.

Impeccably researched and strong writing makes this a must read for all history lovers. The author did an outstanding job depicting Cuba at the end of the nineteenth century and the despicable conditions the people of the country faced in their fight for freedom from Spain. Two rival newspapers and their tycoon owners, Hearst and Pulitzer, are depicted as they try to get the best scoop. Three women are featured, one of them, Evangelina Cisneros, is a real person who life is an essential part of the storyline. How far does journalism go in creating the story for their readers? These women were an integral part of this country’s fight for freedom. Chanel Cleeton highlights all her research as she creates her story  from various records. Well written and researched! #TheMostBeautifulGirlInCuba #ChanelCleeton #NetGalley

Gorgeous writing, impeccable research and three courageous female characters make this a must-read for any historical fiction lover! 

The title protagonist, Evangelina Cisneros, is unfairly incarcerated in the late 1890s, stuck in an infamous Havana jail. She’s among many oppressed Cubans who yearn for freedom from Spain, and is based on one of Cuba’s real heroines.

Randolph Hearst and his influential press take up her cause, naming her “The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba” in a ploy to sell papers and urge America to back Cuba. Gutsy Grace Harrington, a Hearst reporter, and Marina Perez, a secret courier supporting Cuba, add compellingly to the narrative as they toil to free Evangelina.

Will they succeed? Will Hearst push the U.S. into war by skewing truth to best his rival, Joseph Pulitzer? Chanel Cleeton’s latest reveals the always intriguing, often heartbreaking answers in this page-turning triumph — my first Cleeton but definitely not the last! 

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 04 May 2021

Thanks to the author, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#TheMostBeautifulGirlinCuba #NetGalley

Thank you so much to Netgalley & Berkley for the ARC of The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba. 

I became obsessed with the Perez family and the Cuba saga by Chanel Cleeton earlier this year when I first read Next Year in Havana. I love how Cleeton gives her main characters so much depth and that they are all strong female leads. The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba felt more historical than the others did, and for the first half of the book it made it a little slower for me. I really liked all three women in this story, how their stories overlapped and what they brought into this book. Marina was my favorite, hands down. Her story was so heartbreaking and you could just FEEL the love she had for her family, her country, and the hope she had for her future despite the hardships they were facing. I didn't cry in the first three books, but Marina made me cry in this one. Grace was definitely a spit-fire character who was not scared to go after what she wanted and I always love a girl who is taking control of her own life. Evangelina became an unexpected hero for her country and I spent SO MUCH TIME researching her after I finished this story. 

The research was definitely done for this book. The issues of the women left behind in Cuba, the re-concentration camps, and the war waging on in NYC between newspapers are topics I have never explored in a book before, let alone all of them weaving together to create such a strong story as this. 

This was probably the heaviest out of all of the Cuba books for me, but the soul in this story is REAL. I definitely recommend this if you enjoyed the other books by Chanel Cleeton.

A very well written historical fiction.  The characters are well developed and the story of the 3 woman very intriguing.   The story is historically accurate and brings to life a part of history that has been forgotten.

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba

I give this book 5 beautiful historical fiction, romance, story-telling, finding yourself, and unique journey stars! I cannot say enough good things about this book. The writing was phenomenal and the characters were so well developed. They had incredible stories and I couldn’t put this book down. I will definitely be buying it when it comes out and can’t wait to recommend it to everyone.

In The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba we follow 3 women through the years 1896-1898 during the Cuban War of Independence from Spain. Grace Harrington born into an old money family in NYC goes against her family’s wish for her to marry and instead lands a job at the New York Journal working as a journalist for William Hearst. In a time when women aren’t journalists, she begins writing about a woman wrongly imprisoned in Cuba, Evangelina Cisneros. Based on a real woman, Evangelina is put in the Casa de Recogidas, a prison for women, because she thwarted the forced advances of a Spanish officer. 

America becomes obsessed with Evangelina through the newspapers where she is called “The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba”. Evangelina is able to communicate with the outside world through Marina Perez (yes from the Perez family from the past 3 books). Marina was taken from her country home and thrown into a re-concentration camp in Havana with her daughter and mother-in-law because the Spanish were scared of people in the country meeting and rebelling. 

Chanel Cleeton took the best aspects of her past 3 books in this series and put them all together here. The stories of these women unfold slowly and gracefully, nothing is rushed. Characters are fully developed and there are no instant romances (thank you for this!). I rooted for Grace to excel in her career and take control over her life. Evangelina was showed off as just a beautiful face but she had so much more to her. Her concern for her country and ALL women imprisoned there, beautiful or not. Marina’s love for her husband and daughter just poured out of the pages, I felt her grief when her husband went off to fight in the war.

This story is the prequel I didn’t know I needed. Cleeton explored wrongfully imprisoning women for “crimes” like simply being married to a rebel and forcing women and children into re-concentration camps where they died by malnutrition and disease at an alarming rate. She also wove in themes true today such as privilege during a war vs being poor and unprotected and how much influence the news does and should have on what happens in the world (such as an article pushing a country to war). 

This book was very well researched and I spent a lot of time looking up Evangelina, Casa de Recogidas, and re-concentration camps in Havana. The Author’s Note really got me started into my deep dive. While this story about a war may sound heavy, it’s truly about the fight for Cuban Independence and for the soul of a beautiful country.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was an eyeopener for me.  The impact of journalism in government and public is strong, as shown in the efforts of Hearst's paper to create social consciousness regarding the situation in Cuba during the 1890s.  The inclusion of three powerful women characters (one based on the real life of Evangelina Cisneros) made it an interesting read, even though, at times going back and forth between each character in different chapters distracted the reader from the story line.

The author did a good job in researching the situation in Cuba under Spanish control.  She also presented journalism of the period in a frank and objective way.  This would be a good book club selection as it presents various topics for discussion:  women & war; Cuban politics; the media; etc.

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba
by Chanel Cleeton
Berkley Publishing Group
 You Like Them
Berkley
Multicultural Interest | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 04 May 2021   |   Archive Date 04 Jun 2021

What a great book! Chanel Cleeton is one of the best storytellers I know.  She does her research and tells the story. Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC. I will recommend it to our patrons. 

5 star

I can’t think of anyone better than Chanel Cleeton when it comes to storytelling. The amount of detail, character development, and research that went into this book is amazing. The Most Beautiful Girl In Cuba brings out all of the emotions. My heart aches for the people of Cuba and the awful things they went through to bring freedom to their country. 5 stars is not enough for this latest book.

*Chanel Cleeton can do no wrong.

I need to process this book so that I can write a review that will do this book justice if that is possible. The characters are so well developed and researched that this book deserves 5 billion stars.

Thank you NETGALLEY for this ARC that I will surely put in the hands of my patrons once it is released.

I do want to leave with why Chanel Cleeton is one of my favorites - she researches her stuff. Yes, this may be FICTION but let me tell you, the war, the turmoil, the characters, the places, the spies, the revolution, it was all very real and after reading this nail biting story, I feel like I was there.