
Book Review: 'The Tilting House' is a novel about coming of age in Communist Cuba
Yuri's parents had named her after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin, hoping that one day she would grow up to be a famous female astronaut. Yuri now has vague hopes of being accepted into the Lenin school, Cuba's prestigious preparatory.
Yuri and her Aunt Ruth's quiet lives are suddenly turned upside down when an unexpected visitor from 'la Yuma' — slang for the United States — shows up at their Havana home with a camera swinging from her neck and announcing she is family. Ruth later tells Yuri that 34-year-old Mariela is her daughter, and that when Mariela was an infant she sent her to live with a family in the United States through Operation Pedro Pan, a U.S. government program in which thousands of unaccompanied children were sent from Cuba to Miami in the early 1960s.
'The Tilting House,' by Miami-based writer Ivonne Lamazares, is an affecting and sometimes amusing coming-of-age novel set in a country that few have had the opportunity to visit, despite its proximity to the U.S.
It's a study of hidden family secrets, the unhealed wound of losing a mother and the quest for home.
Lamazares, who was born in Havana, knows her homeland well, and her book is rife with description and historic detail that only someone with first-hand knowledge could provide. Lamazares left Cuba for the United States in 1989 during a period of shortages and deprivation known as 'The Special Period in Time of Peace.' Her first novel, 'The Sugar Island,' also set in Cuba, was translated into seven languages.
In 'The Tilting House,' Yuri is quickly pulled into Mariela's chaotic world and her absurd art projects, which include a tragicomic funeral for Ruth's dead dog, Lucho, in a public park using highly illegal homemade fireworks. Ruth, already viewed as suspect by the government as a member of the small Jehovah's Witnesses group, is arrested and sent to jail on unexplained charges.
Weekly
A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene.
Mariela later tells Yuri that they aren't cousins, but sisters, and that their now-dead mother gave birth to her as a teenager. Mariela insists that their Aunt Ruth 'kidnapped' her and sent her to live in the U.S., where she was raised on a farm in Nebraska.
More harebrained projects follow, and the family's tilting house finally tumbles after neighbors and acquaintances slowly chip away at the building to repurpose many of the structure's materials.
Yuri later emigrates to the U.S., where she studies and starts a career that allows her to make a return visit to the island. On that trip her past becomes clearer, and she reaches something approaching closure and forgiveness.
___
AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
3 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Fantastic Four: First Steps' scores Marvel's first $100 million box office opening of 2025
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Marvel's first family has finally found box office gold. 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' the first film about the superheroes made under the guidance of Kevin Feige and the Walt Disney Co., earned $118 million in its first weekend in 4,125 North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. That makes it the fourth biggest opening of the year, behind 'A Minecraft Movie,' 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'Superman,' and the biggest Marvel opening since 'Deadpool & Wolverine' grossed $211 million out of the gate last summer. Internationally, 'Fantastic Four' made $100 million from 52 territories, adding up to a $218 million worldwide debut. The numbers were within the range the studio was expecting. The film arrived in the wake of another big superhero reboot, James Gunn's 'Superman,' which opened three weekends ago and has already crossed $500 million globally. That film, from the other main player in comic book films, DC Studios, took second place with $24.9 million domestically. 'First Steps' is the latest attempt at bringing the superhuman family to the big screen, following lackluster performances for other versions. The film, based on the original Marvel comics, is set during the 1960s in a retro-futuristic world led by the Fantastic Four, a family of astronauts-turned-superhuman from exposure to cosmic rays during a space mission. The family is made up of Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), who can stretch his body to incredible lengths; Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), who can render herself invisible; Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), who transforms into a fiery human torch; and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who possesses tremendous superhuman strength with his stone-like flesh. The movie takes place four years after the family gained powers, during which Reed's inventions have transformed technology, and Sue's diplomacy has led to global peace. Both audiences and critics responded positively to the film, which currently has an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and promising exit poll responses from opening weekend ticket buyers. An estimated 46% of audiences chose to see it on premium screens, including IMAX and other large formats. The once towering Marvel is working to rebuild audience enthusiasm for its films and characters. Its two previous offerings this year did not reach the cosmic box office heights of 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' which made over $1.3 billion, or those of the 'Avengers'-era. But critically, the films have been on an upswing since the poorly reviewed 'Captain America: Brave New World,' which ultimately grossed $415 million worldwide. 'Thunderbolts,' which jumpstarted the summer movie season, was better received critically but financially is capping out at just over $382 million globally. Like Deadpool and Wolverine, the Fantastic Four characters had been under the banner of 20th Century Fox for years. The studio produced two critically loathed, but decently profitable attempts in the mid-2000s with future Captain America Chris Evans as the Human Torch. In 2015, it tried again (unsuccessfully) with Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller. They got another chance after Disney's $71 billion acquisition of Fox's entertainment assets in 2019. Top 10 movies by domestic box office With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: 1. 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' $118 million. 2. 'Superman,' $24.9 million. 3. 'Jurassic World Rebirth,' $13 million. 4. 'F1: The Movie,' $6.2 million. 5. 'Smurfs,' $5.4 million. 6. 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' $5.1 million. 7. 'How to Train Your Dragon,' $2.8 million. 8. 'Eddington,' $1.7 million. 9. 'Saiyaara,' $1.3 million. 10. 'Oh, Hi!,' $1.1 million.


Winnipeg Free Press
17 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ryan Gosling and faceless alien named Rocky wow crowd at ‘Project Hail Mary' Comic-Con panel
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Comic-Con got a lot of Ryan and a little bit of Rocky at a panel on 'Project: Hail Mary,' the forthcoming film that's equal parts space adventure, real-science deep-dive, broad comedy and relationship drama. 'What's up Hall H!' a giddy Ryan Gosling in a trucker hat and flannel shirt shouted to the crowd of more than 6,000 at Comic-Con's biggest venue. Amazon MGM Studios showed the opening five minutes and several other slightly unfinished scenes from the first third of the film, seven months before its planned release. (Spoilers for that section follow). It included an extended glimpse at Rocky, the stone-shaped and faceless alien who becomes Gosling's mission partner as they attempt to save the universe from ecological disaster. Phil Lord, who codirected the film with Chris Miller, said the relationship between the two beings stuck alone together in space represents the central theme. 'If the universe depended on it,' Miller said, 'can adult men make friends?' Rocky is already a cult favorite for readers of Andy Weir's novel, and is sure to be a future staple of Comic-Con cosplay. Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a middle school teacher and underachiever drafted for the mission in the film based on the novel by Weir, whose first novel became the 2015 Matt Damon movie 'The Martian.' Screenwriter Drew Goddard adapted both. Gosling was asked what he connected to in the reluctant character. 'I connect to his reluctance. I'm reluctant to answer this question,' Gosling said. 'Aside from he fact that he has a doctorate in molecular biology he's quite an ordinary person. He reacts to a lot of things that I might or a lot of us might. He's terrified — appropriately — of the task at hand.' Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. The opening five minutes show a sloppy, long-bearded, amnesiac Gosling as he awakes in a pod. He climbs out, confused. He finds other people in pods who are clearly dead. Then he finds a window and learns he's in space. He gives a mealymouthed scream of 'Where am ?!' The movie represents the return to directing, and return to space, of Lord and Miller for the first time since they were fired and replaced by Ron Howard by Disney and Lucasfilm from 2018's 'Solo.' Like, 'The Martian,' the movie goes heavy on the science — Weir, also a producer, said he spent hours going over every equation one very white board But it takes the messy, kitchen-sink, everything-is-comedy approach Lord and Miller used in films like 'The Lego Movie.' 'This movie is not a Mac, it's a PC,' Lord said. 'It can be beautiful, it just can't be pretty.'


Winnipeg Free Press
18 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Lilo & Stitch' stars reflect on film's success and are eager for a sequel
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A few things have changed for the stars of 'Lilo & Stitch' since the movie became the breakout hit of 2025. For 8-year-old star Maia Kealoha, it's meant no more Doritos – she's learned she has to keep her teeth clean, especially when doing interviews. Kealoha, Sydney Agudong and Tia Carrere have been doing lots of those, taking a victory lap with 'Lilo & Stitch' at Comic-Con 2025 and promoting the film's release for digital purchase. Another change? Kealoha says with a big grin that she's been recognized at stores 'like five thousand times.' Agudong says the movie 'an ode to Hawaii' and it's been really cool to 'see how much the world has taken to it and how much impact 'Lilo & Stitch' really has had as just this lifelong and timeless story.' She says she's been fortunate to celebrate the film's success with family and friends and despite premieres and whirlwind interviews, she still gets to 'go to the beach and have fun all over again and I'm just the same.' Kealoha and Agudong are the breakout stars of the film, which is the biggest blockbuster of 2025, earning more than $1 billion. 'Our little blue friend Stitch is now a billionaire and we couldn't be more excited about it,' Carrere says excitedly. As for a sequel, Agudong says the trio are feeling 'hanna hou,' a Hawaiian term for repeating or doing something again. 'Though, of course, we cannot confirm or deny the existence of any such project in this universe or the next. Sorry!' Carrere cheerfully noted.