The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba: three women and the Cuban War of Independence

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton is the story of three very different women whose lives are to be connected to the story of a lifetime. Eighteen year old Evangelina dreamed of a Cuba free from Spanish oppression. When she is falsely imprisoned in the Casa de Recogidas, a notorious Havana women’s jail, her story reaches New York. and fuels the feud between two of the biggest newspaper tycoons of the Gilded Age: William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. Grace Harrington lands a job at Hearst’s newspaper in 1896, she realizes that journalism is a cutthroat world where one story, one scoop can make or break your career. She’s about to get a story that will change her life forever. When Hearst learns about the beautiful young woman imprisoned, she runs her story and picture, dubbing her “The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba.” Evangelina becomes the poster child for the rallying cry for American intervention in Cuban independence. Marina Perez works as a secret courier for the Cuban revolutionaries, hoping for freedom and the return to the life she knew with her husband and daughter. 

Ms. Cleeton was inspired by her ancestor’s story in the Cuban fight for independence as well as the true story of Evangelina Cisneros. The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba was a bit slow in the beginning but picks up speed as tensions between the US and Spain lead to the Spanish American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898). As I read, I was reminded of the conflict and the events leading to American involvement from my high school and college world history classes. The three women, Evangelina, Grace and Marina, give the voices to the conflict but it was Marina’s story that held my attention as she is relocated from her farm to an impoverished and disease riddled camp. Overall, The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba highlights a part of history that many do not remember; however, it is not a book I would read again. It was a book that was highly praised but fell flat for me. I liked it but I wasn’t wowed by it. This book was my first by Ms. Cleeton and I may or may not read her other books.  

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook