Book Review: Loving Che by Ana Menendez

I read the book I'm reviewing today when I was sick. I'm sure this had an effect on how I interpreted the story, the writing, the characters, the ending so perhaps I should take some time in the future to re-read this book. Or maybe not. The older I get the more I don't want to read the same books twice - there are far too many other ones to be held in my hands.

However, the review is not a bad one... far from it...

What's it all about? 

Loving Che by Ana Menendez is a fictional account of a small part of Ernest Che Guevara's life at the peak of the Cuban Revolution told through the eyes of a woman in modern day America searching for answers about her own Cuban heritage, particularly her mother.

What's so good about it?

The writer uses few words, indeed, chapters are astonishingly short and unstructured and yet the pages are loaded with emotion, passion, living and breathing characters and an easy to understand plot set over two very different time periods in both Cuba and USA.

Who, me? 

Writing about such an iconic figure as Che Guevara, which is a deep mix of fact and fiction, leaves the author very vulnerable to criticism and correction from those with expert knowledge about Che and the Cuban Revolution. However, if you know little about the man, the myth and the plight of the Cuban people then this book goes a long way to introduce it all to you, as it did for me. Loving Che is also both a sap-free love story and a twisting tale of mystery written with intelligence for the intelligent reader. 

Read some more short and sweet book reviews .

(Please note any links to Amazon are through my Amazon Associates account, which means I make a little money (less than 5%) from any purchases made after clicking through these links. Thank you, please.)