This is not an island, exclaims the Barefoot Countess. This is a monster covered with vines and trees. The island to which she refers is an enclosed area in an abandoned ancient estate in the heart of Cuba. The estate was carved out of the city of Havana by an incestuous couple, a brother and sister who emigrated from Spain decades before. Now it has run wild, though vestiges of its former glory -- exotic plants and handsome sculptures -- still remain. Tucked in among the ramshackle houses that have cropped up live the characters: the Barefoot Countess herself; Casta Diva, a former singer, and her black husband Merenque, a mute who earns his living selling pastries; a sickly girl and her nonagenarian mother; Irene and her gay son; Professor Kingston, an alcoholic; the passing angel; a mysterious stranger who is found on the riverbank; and a sculptor who fills Cuba with his plaster reproductions of classic art.Combining his vision of the world as a kind of mad merry-go-round with dazzling language, Estevez has written a work of uncommon originality and lush beauty.

Thine is the Kingdom

Literature & Fiction

Estévez, Abilio

Contemporary

Arcade Publishing

Distant Palaces: A Novel

United States

Arcade

Distant Palaces

Abilio Estevez conjures up the melancholy beauty of contemporary Havana in this story about a trio of misfits. Victorio quits his job after he is evicted and becomes a vagrant. Salam, a young prostitute, befriends him and they move into a ruined theatre with eccentric musician Don Fuco.

Harvill Press

Thine Is the Kingdom

The Harvill Press

L'année du calypso: Roman - traduit de l'espagnol (Cuba) par Alice Seelow

Genre Fiction

GRASSET

Las palomas y El General: ceremonia de Tierra Caliente en trece episodios delirantes (Spanish Edition)

Dramas & Plays

Rialta Ediciones

978-84-17200-33-6

Sloper

In an estate called La Isla, not far from Havana, Cuba, lives a small community haunted by an invisible threat.

Tuyo es el reino (Andanzas) (Spanish Edition)

Literary

Tusquets Editores S.A.

La Habana, poco antes de la llegada del ano 2001. Un cuarenton llamado Victorio es desalojado del edificio en el que vive dias antes de que este se desplome. Anorando un cuarto propio y desprovisto de las necesidades mas elementales de la vida, vagabundea vencido y erratico por la ciudad hasta topar con Salma, una joven «jinetera» acosada por un proxeneta hermoso y despiadado. En busca de refugio, los dos llegan a las ruinas de un antiguo teatro abandonado, donde los acoge un excentrico y enigmatico personaje, un viejo funambulista y payaso al que han visto actuar en terrazas y parques sin ningun sentido del ridiculo. Victorio y Salma descubren que tal vez sea ese teatro el «palacio distante» que les estaba reservado, y que quiza no sea tan extravagante la mision que quiere inculcarles ese sacerdote de la risa, empenado en liberar del cansancio y el hastio a sus atribulados compatriotas mediante el asombro y la burda escenificacion de la belleza.

Los palacios distantes (Spanish Edition)

Offers the perspective of a Cuban writer who has spent some time away from his natal city, Havana, revealing the contrast to the tourist imagery--a secret Havana that the visitor cannot know.

Inventario Secreto de la Habana

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