The Second Death of Unica Aveyano

I loved this book. The writing is luminous, the characters are well-crafted, and the story line is compelling.

Ernesto words are poetry. his command of language makes the words flow in this wonderful story where ernesto transports us back to Cuba, to another way of seeing the world

THE SECOND DEATH OF UNICA AVEYANO by Ernesto Mestre-ReedThe novel THE SECOND DEATH OF UNICA AVEYANO, written by the highly acclaimed author Ernesto Mestre-Reed, is being compared to the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabelle Allende, and rightly so. In this novel, Mestre-Reed takes the reader into the world of Unica Aveyano, a Cuban immigrant now living with her family in the United States. She is also dying from cancer. Using techniques that are common in novels by Marquez and Allende, Mestre-Reed writes a vividly surreal-like story that moves back and forth between Cuba and the United States, told in dreamlike flashbacks and always returning back to the present. This is the story of Unica and her epic life story, which starts in Cuba before Castro comes to power, and will end in America.The story revolves around Unica's life, but is interspersed with the news headline of Elian Gonzales, the young Cuban boy that was found adrift at sea and rescued, finally taken to Miami to be with his American relatives. His story parallels that of Unica's, for she is also a Cuban immigrant who left one member behind in the homeland, her son Candido. The book is a complex set of disjointed flashbacks, telling the story of three generations. Each character in this book is unique, each one having a more quirky history than the next. Together, they tell the story of Unica's life.It takes a while for the reader to be able to put the pieces together to understand the complete story of Unica. But it is well worth the effort. It is a short novel, less than 300 pages, but Mestre-Reed is able to tell an entire life-story within these pages. This is not an easy read. But, this reviewer found it time worth spent, and highly recommends THE SECOND DEATH OF UNICA AVEYANO.