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Easily the most astonishing of the seven books considered in this survey is
first–time novelist Ernesto Mestre's THE LAZARUS RUMBA. A richly rendered tale of
Cubans trying to come to terms with the ramifications of Castro's revolution, THE LAZARUS
RUMBA portrays Cuba as an enchanted island where human goodness and evil are amplified in
amazing ways.
At the center of the tale is Alicia Lucientes, a woman whose husband went to school with
Fidel Castro and served in his revolutionary army before revolting against him --- a
decision that ultimately costs him his life. Alicia becomes a counter–revolutionary
and spends her life seeking solace in acts of defiance against Castro's regime.
Although Alicia's story primary, THE LAZARUS RUMBA is a densely woven tapestry made up of
many narrative threads that are by turns bizarre, horrific, beautiful and provocative.
Mestre takes many narrative risks, including telling a portion of the story from the
perspective of a homosexual rooster with a gift for raising the dead, but never loses
control of the magic realism that infuses his story.
Because of the many cultural issues that are explored in THE LAZARUS RUMBA, both MI MOTO
FIDEL and BEFORE NIGHT FALLS are fine books to read prior to tackling Mestre's tome.
Indeed, Arenas is among the authors Mestre mentions in his acknowledgments, and a
memorable scene in THE LAZARUS RUMBA, in which a young man who believes himself to be
Castro's illegitimate son attempts to reach the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, is almost
certainly borrowed from BEFORE NIGHT FALLS and recast through the prism of the magic
realist genre. The treatment of dissidents and the hardships endured by all Cubans are at
the heart of Mestre's tale --- including the plight of homosexuals under Castro's
government, which is central to the plot of THE LAZARUS RUMBA --- but Mestre never allows
his political message to overwhelm or dilute the power of his storytelling and his ear for
beautiful language. THE LAZARUS RUMBA is as rewarding as it is challenging.
--- Reviewed by Rob Cline
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