By Carlos Alemán
Publisher: Aignos Publishing
Nuno is a prequel to the author’s first novel Happy That It’s Not True. This prequel is a quick read and 219 pages long.
The author spins an interesting story about a young man named Nuno who overcomes a dysfunctional family environment; his father dies and his mom abandons him at the age of two. He is then brought up by his Aunt Olgalana and eventually they go to live with his grandparents. His grandfather is a monster in more ways than I will disclose here; the atrocities are unbelievable and scary and a world you may not want to enter.
In spite of all these misgivings, Nuno manages to fall in love with a girl named Gabriela. It is a true love story that has many twists and turns and it will keep you wanting to read it through to see how Nuno navigates through his life.
Mr. Alemán weaves a story plot that is filled with interesting characters, yet it also gives the reader a glimpse into the life of a revolutionary Cuba, its people, and the culture. By using this setting, the author does a fantastic job with the protagonist and antagonist’s personalities. This is cleverly written and the reader will immediately begin to believe in the characters. His gift of writing shows implicitly in his style to tell a good story.
The author wanted to show that in spite of the many curve balls thrown in a person’s life, people still manage to find beauty and love through it all. This goes well with his theme of love.
Alemán, a Cuban American, does a great job in bringing all the pieces together and making the story fascinating. He incorporates the attitudes of people within a culture and he intertwines the pieces perfectly all the time enlightening the reader.
There are many books written by Cuban Americans, however, this book is done with a fictional twist, which makes it out of the ordinary. I would say that the author definitely achieved his goal in showing that love is admirable and that it can be found if you search for it. In other words LOVE is a great driver in life.
If you are looking for an enlightening book to read, I would recommend this book. It is both entertaining and informative and will give you insight into another side of Cuba that you wouldn’t have otherwise imagined.
Source: Book was provided by author for review. It was reviewed by Corina Martinez Chaudhry.
