Cecilia SamartinRecensioni

Sebastian sueña con ser un niño igual que los demás, con ser capaz de correr como el viento en el campo de fútbol, chutar la pelota de tal manera que dibuje una perfecta parábola y marcar un gol. Pero su corazón tiene un defecto desde que nació, lo que significa que no puede cumplir sus deseos. No obstante, Sebastian ha logrado encontrar su lugar en el mundo gracias a su excéntrica abuela Lola y al amor que esta siente por la cocina. Ambos preparan juntos riquísimos y exóticos platos puertorriqueños, el país de origen de su abuela. La complicidad que crece entre ambos (un niño enfermo y una anciana) se convierte pronto en un fuerte vínculo que logra unir de nuevo a una familia desestructurada, pues, como siempre dice Lola, «una comida preparada con amor no solo alimenta el cuerpo, sino también el alma».

Tre sv hennes bøker i en.

En bok med tre av hennes bøker i en.

Tykkään Samartinin tyylistä kirjoittaa ja siitä, että tarina on yllätyksellinen.

This is an extremely touching story about a young boy Sebastian, his grandmother, and their captivating relationship. Sebastian has a condition that prevents him from accomplishing his goals of becoming a runner and a soccer player. He's bullied at school, and overly protected by his mother. His only escape is with Abuela Lola, his grandmother.

Lola has given up her cooking, including her cooking supplies as she prepares for death. When Sebastian finds his grandmother on the floor of her kitchen, they stop waiting for death and decide to live their life to the fullest while they still can.

Together they share stories, family history, life lessons, and cooking. Abuela is from Puerto Rico where their culture is full of amazing recipes. Now that she's living life to the fullest, she's started back in the kitchen. Mofongo is a dish made of fried plantains, hence the title. Families gather together to prepare the meal, as well as enjoy their labor while eating. In the back of the book, there are even some great recipes that I want to try.

There were tears, and there was laughter and I enjoyed every moment of it. Almost every emotional situation that Cecilia writes, can be related to your own personal life. This makes it very easy to relate to the story along with the characters. You can feel their emotions much easier and much more powerful.

It's an easy to read book that I believe everyone will enjoy. Samartin really knows how to tell a heartwarming story that will stick with you even after you finish the book.

Rare vergelijkingen: "De zon stond al hoog genoeg om door de bovenste takken van de eik te schijnen, als een glanzende uil die haar gadesloeg. Over een uurtje zou zij boven de cameliaboom hangen, ..."
Recht-toe-recht-aan verhaal

4.5 stars

This is the beautifully told story of two Cuban cousins separated by the Cuban Revolution. The book spans several decades going from the tropical beaches of Cuba to America. Being Latina I could easily relate to the lives of Alicia and Nora. I loved the family relationships and how they were realistically portrayed. There were portions of this book that I felt were taken from my own life. I also loved the development of the political situation and how it affected the characters. It did not come off as too preachy or too heavy. I’m not into reading politics, so this was a right mix for me.

Most of all what I loved about this book was the gorgeous descriptions and eloquent writing. I could smell the ocean and feel the breeze on my face as I read the passages from Cuba. My only complaint was the ending, which I did not care for. I thought it was too far-fetched and drawn, however, the rest of the book more than made up for it.

I picked up an advanced reader's copy, not sure what to think of it. I ended up really enjoying it, which surprised me. I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover, but we all do -- and this cover made the book seem like some cheesy romance. It's not. It's actually an interesting story about two people thrown together, dealing with the fate dealt to them, taking different forms of pilgrimage, hoping to find salvation outside of their own imaginations. I definitely recommend it.

en berättelse om Nora och hennes kusin Alicia som växer upp tillsammans, men skiljs åt när Nora och hennes familj flyr från Castros Kuba till USA.

Een 10-jarige ziekelijke jongen en zijn Portoricaanse oma gaan met koken de problemen in hun familie te lijf

Een prachtige, ontroerende roman over twee nichtjes die opgroeien in Cuba en van elkaar gescheiden worden door de Cubaanse revolutie van 1961. Mooie Nederlandse vertaling.

Ihan mukaansatempaavaa luettavaa, vaikka loppu töksähtikin vähän oudosti.½

This book was published in 2004 with the title Ghost Heart, but for some reason it changed to Broken Paradise instead. Ghost Heart is Samartin’s debut novel, and I have already read another of her books this year, Tarnished Beauty, a book I really enjoyed. I liked this book even more!

In this novel we get to know Alicia and Nora, cousins, best-friends and kindred spirits. No one can play like Alicia and Nora and no one can laugh like Alicia and Nora. Their life in Havana is good and safe, with visits to the beach, nice clothes and good food. But then Castro and the revolution destroys everything. Nora and her family leaves for the US, while Alicia stays behind. Nora’s family escape the hunger and constant propaganda, but Nora can not let her life in Cuba go. She miss Alicia too much. Throughout the book we follow Nora’s life in the new and foreign country, and how Alicia is coping and learning to live with the revolution. I will not reveal too much of the plot, this book is too good to destroy for someone.

This is a book about finding a balance between grief and hope, love and pain. Despite of the heavy theme, it is still optimistic. There are some clichés, but they are well placed and not too many. The story is both beautiful and sad. I really liked this book, and apparently (I have not read the books myself) people who liked The Kite Runner and The Island might like this book too.

Vigil is an interesting and beautifully written novel. Although you may think this would be a disheartening story, it was not. Yes, there is sadness, but is also a story about happiness, friendship, and family. Each character is carefully developed with Ana as the one moral constant in the family. Eventually she is influenced by the immorality of the family members and conflict occurs.

The story was captivating as Ana reflects back on her life starting as a child in El Salvador hiding from soldiers. As she tends to her dying love, she reflects on her memories of her mother and childhood friends to her life as a postulant. I enjoyed Vigil for its rich descriptions and interesting characters. It was a romantic novel without being a typical “Romance” novel.

Castros revolusjon på Cuba i 1956 skiller de to bestevenninnene Alicia og Nora. Mens Nora flytter til USA med familien blir Alicia igjen og opplever fattigdommen som preger landet under Castros regime. Flere år senere blir Alicia alvorlig syk, og Nora bestemmer seg for å reise til Cuba for å hjelpe henne. © DnBB AS

"Drømmehjerte" er skrevet av den cubanske forfatteren Cecilia Samartin. Den var veldig fin og rørende, med mange fine bilder fra Cuba. Jeg synes ikke den var like fin som "Señor Peregrino", men jeg anbefaler den likevel.

Handlingen foregår i Cuba rundt tiden da Castro tar over makten. Nora lever et godt liv sammen med moren, faren, søsteren og den svarte tjeneren, Beba. Noras bestevenninne er hennes vakre kusine, Alicia, som er et år eldre. Vi får lese om deres liv på Cuba før revolusjonen, alt fra hverdag til fest. Da revolusjonen kommer forandres alt. Nora og familien hennes velger å dra til USA, mens Alicia og hennes familie blir igjen. Før Nora drar, forteller Beba, som ikke får bli med familien, at hun må ta vare på drømmehjertet sitt. Drømmehjerte er det hjertet en holder for seg selv, med sine egne tanker og håp, slik at en ikke trenger å gi fra seg den man er.
Nora finner seg etterhvert til rette i USA, og det gjør også hennes søster Marta. De lever et godt liv, de er friske, har mat på bordet og får utdannelse. I mens lever slektningene på Cuba under svært dårlige forhold. De har nesten ikke mat og undertrykkelsen og fattigdommen er stor. Nora brevveksler med Alicia, og får på den måten høre om livet på Cuba. Alicia har giftet seg med sin svarte kjæreste Tony, og sammen har de fått barn. Årene går, og Nora skjønner at Alicia og barnet ikke har det bra. Tony sitter i fengsel, og Nora drar til Cuba for å hjelpe Alicia, som har blitt syk. Møtet med Cuba blir annerledes enn hun hadde trodd. Øya er helt forandret, og det samme er menneskene og reglene.

Boka har gitt meg innblikk i hvordan livet på Cuba ble under revolusjonen. Den viser at det nødvendigvis ikke ble bedre, bare verre. "Drømmehjerte" er en veldig sår historie, som tar opp de viktige temaene vennskap, savn og kjærlighet. Jeg likte boka veldig godt, og den fikk tankene mine i sving.

I love this novel. It pulled me in and did not let go even after I turned the last page. I did not want to leave the world Samartin so vividly brought to life.

Jamilet possesses a beautiful face, but a hideous birthmark causes her superstitious Mexican village to shun her. She lives, unable to attend school, with her sickly and sad mother. Once her mother dies, she crosses the border to live with her aunt. Having grown up in scorned seclusion, Jamilet has trouble relating to others. Yet the boy across the street still helps her find employment at a local hospital. There she attends to the mysterious Señor Peregrino (Mister Pilgrim).

He forces Jamilet to listen to his story in the beginning, but she, like the reader, becomes entranced and listens of her own free will. He tells of his time as a pilgrim on the Road to Santiago in Spain. He and his friend Tomas eventually join with the beautiful Rosa and later the bold Jenny. It's a tale of tangled loves, dedication, and dashed hopes. The story-within-a-story is perhaps even more beautiful than the tale that frames it.

Samartin's characters are incredible. They are all flawed, but strong. Some are insecure; some are bold. Some are jaded; some are naïve. Every one of them seems real. Their stories resonate because of this strong sense of character.

People do not do great things in TARNISHED BEAUTY. Instead, they live. They connect. That's enough for me.

Vakre Jamilet er en resultatet av en voldtekt, og vokser opp i en fattig familie på landsbygda i Mexico. Et groteskt fødselsmerke dekker hele ryggen og går ned til knærne, og de overtroiske landsbybeboerne mener at hun er merket av djevelen. Jamilet vokser opp uten skolegang og kan ikke lese, og det er umulig for henne å omgås landsbybeboerne på en naturlig måte.

Da moren dør føler Jamilet seg befridd fra de lenker som har holdt henne tilbake i landsbyen, og hun flykter til USA hvor hun oppsøker tanten Carmen. Der har hun håp om å få leve et normalt liv blant mennesker som ikke kjenner til fødselsmerket.

Tanten hjelper henne med å skaffe falske identitetspapirer, og ved hjelp av disse klarer hun å skaffe seg en jobb på et psykiatrisk sykehus. Der får hun ansvar for kun en pasient, en mann de færreste har holdt ut lenge. Det oppstår imidlertid en gjensidig sympati mellom Senor Peregrino og Jamilet, og han forteller henne historien om sin ungdoms pilgrimsreise til Santiago i Spania, hvor han fant sin store kjærlighet. Samtidig lærer han Jamilet å lese.

Til å begynne med opplevde jeg boka som vel svulstig og fantasifull, som dobbel dose Isabel Allende og Paulo Coelho når de nærmest har "tatt helt av". Samtidig var det noe ved boka som gjorde at jeg måtte lese videre, og jeg endte med å sluke den. Så selv om det ble vel mye drama og vel mange tilfeldigheter som plutselig stemte, ble jeg grepet av historien. Like fullt var ikke dette en stor litteraturopplevelse. Til det var språket for enkelt og personskildringene for grunne.½

“The world is full of miracles, Mama. All we have to do is find the ones that belong to us.” [pg 27]

Tarnished Beauty by Cecelia Samartin
Atria Books, 2008 (ARE)
Fiction; 339 pgs

Jamilet is a naïve and imaginative young woman who carries a burden, an ugly birthmark that stretches from her shoulders, down her back, reaching to the back of her knees. She is ashamed of it and wants nothing more than to be rid of it. All her life, the birthmark has proven to be a curse, earning taunts and stares from her fellow villagers. It is the mark of the devil, some say.

Having reached adulthood and upon the death of her mother, Jamilet leaves behind her small Mexican hometown for the sprawling city of Los Angeles in hopes of finding a doctor who will remove the offending birthmark. She takes up residence with her Aunt Carmen, a woman Jamilet admired as a child. Carmen was a bit of a rebel in her day and one of the only people in Jamilet’s life who rarely gave Jamilet’s birthmark a second thought.

Jamilet takes a job working in an asylum, her only task to watch over and take care of the needs of an elderly man from Spain, Señor Peregrino. Her charge is not an easy man to work with. He is demanding and likes things done just so. She had been instructed not to engage Señor Peregrino in conversation; however, he coaxes her into listening to his life story, a story that soon captivates not only Jamilet but the reader as well. His is a story of love, betrayal and regret. A story Jamilet can relate to in her own way.

Señor Peregrino was as confident and steady as Jamilet was shy and unsure. The two form an unlikely bond. Just as Señor Peregrino set out as a young man on a pilgrimage to discover his fate, Jamilet’s journey to the United States was in a similar vein. Both had expectations and hopes that the road would lead them in one direction, when instead it took them in an entirely different one.

Jamilet’s plight is one most people can relate to, the feeling of being singled out, of being different, and wanting nothing more than to be “normal” and to fit in. Jamilet felt alone in her suffering, not believing anyone would understand what she was going through. She carries her birthmark like a secret, the shame of it always near the surface. I was slightly disappointed that the author did not take this particular story thread farther than she did. Still, I think that Jamilet’s story will appeal to many readers. Her story is not so different than our own in some respects, even if we do not wear the birthmark as she does.

Author Cecilia Samartin has written a heartfelt and bittersweet story. Each time I picked up the book, I looked forward to reading more of Señor Peregrino’s story just as Jamilet came to wanting to hear it. Tarnished Beauty seemed a perfect book choice for a warm spring day—gentle in style and thoughtful in nature.½

Een prachtige, ontroerende roman over heimwee en verlangen en de onverbrekelijke familieband tussen twee vrouwen.