Silent Wing

I look forward to the opportunity of meeting the author and thanking him for his eloquent expression. His book brought much reflection and analysis of the three internal conflicts that tend to haze our decisions - love, truth, and honor. I want to believe that Julian (Marti) and Sol (Maria) are . . .

Bernardo is a master in the art of making his characters human. Any reader can feel and sense the dreams, the weaknesses, the hopes, the despair--all the emotions that are part of our humanity. To say that I enjoyed reading this book very much is not enough. I was enthralled. SILENT WING is a piece of art. It deserves to be known as the best romantic historical novel for a long time to come. It so well expresses the dream of man to lead a normal life of love and fulfillment without opression. I shall always treasure my copy of SILENT WING.

At first blush, SILENT WING is a torrid love story based on the life of the l9th century Cuban poet and patriot Jose Marti. At second blush, SILENT WING is a minor but altogether likeable cousin to such 19th century novels as "The Red and The Black," and "The Sentimental Education." Let Marti's tragedy be portrayed in rather pot-boiled terms--reckless choice and brash honor--but Bernardo still makes us care about him. SILENT WING is a lovely story, doing what historical fiction does best. More than the life of Jose Marti, we get a glimpse of his poetry and a touch of his anguished soul. (The above has been excerpted from the review by Thomas Curwen, Deputy Editor, Los Angeles Times BOOK REVIEW, December, 1998.) This novel was selected as ONE OF THE BEST WORKS OF FICTION FOR 1998.

I have just finished reading SILENT WING, a great love story. I found the novel to be very moving and uplifting. In addition, the love poems in SILENT WING are wonderful! Last year I read Bernardo's THE SECRET OF THE BULLS, which I also loved.