A review by r_reads2winnie
The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

4.5

The book is based on a true story of a Cuban revolutionary, Evangelina Cisneros during the Spanish occupation of Cuba. There are also two fictional characters: Grace, who dreams of becoming a reporter in the cutthroat world of journalism, and Marina, a daughter of a wealthy family who marries a poor farmer against her family’s wish and ends up working as a secret courier for the Cuban revolutionaries. The story is told from the viewpoints of these three strong women. It is incredible how the author was able to fit the story of the two fictional characters so impeccably into the actual historical event of Evangelina Cisneros. If I am being honest though, I enjoyed the story of the two fictional characters more than Evangelina’s. 

This book transports readers to 19th-century Cuba and Gilded Age New York City. It depicts the lives of Cubans during the Spanish occupation, their fight for independence, and America’s involvement. It also touches on the fierce competition between newspaper tycoons William Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer and yellow journalism during the period. 

It is a page-turner!