- Paperback: 342 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition edition (20 Oct 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747545332
- ISBN-13: 978-0747545330
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 225,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The collision of Cuban dreams with sometimes harsh American realities has been Oscar Hijuelos's great theme, most notably in Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. Certainly it's at the heart of his fifth novel, Empress of the Splendid Season, which chronicles the trials, tribulations and infrequent triumphs of a Cuban-American clan over the course of half a century. The protagonist, Lydia Espana, has grown up in pre-Castro Cuba, the pampered daughter of a prosperous businessman. But when she has the audacity to violate her father's small-town code of conduct--by sleeping with an itinerant musician--she pays a terrible penalty: "Her family, turning unfairly against her with a nearly Biblical wrath, had banished her, unprepared to contend with an indifferent world."
Where is Lydia banished to? New York, of course. And in this most indifferent of cities, the former "queen of the Congo line" finds herself in a less exalted role: that of a cleaning woman. This demotion she accepts with a very credible mixture of resignation and rock-ribbed realism: "The hardest part of being a cleaning woman had to do with the way people looked at her; often as if she were "nothing." It hurt her most when men did not notice her. The nature of the work itself, the outfit, the end-of-the-day fatigue, the messiness of that labour were not glamorous, so what could she expect." Lydia is less sanguine about her family's difficulties, from her husband Raul's near-fatal heart attack to her son's brushes with the law. Empress of the Splendid Season is in fact an ensemble piece that passes the point of view from character to character, from generation to generation. But it's Lydia's sensibility--at once stoic and sensuous--that ultimately enlivens this latest take on the American (or perhaps Cuban-American) Dream. --William Davies --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
When Raul Espana falls ill, his wife Lydia, who had enjoyed a life of luxury as the mayor's daughter in Cuba, finds herself cleaning the apartments of rich New Yorkers. Among her employers is Mr Osprey, a paragon of glamour and money who becomes involved in the lives of Lydia and her children.
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First Sentence
In 1957 when her beloved husband, Raul, had fallen ill, Lydia Espana went to work, cleaning the apartments of New Yorkers much better off than herself. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
In 1957 when her beloved husband, Raul, had fallen ill, Lydia Espana went to work, cleaning the apartments of New Yorkers much better off than herself. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found the title off putting at first but having started reading this book I found it impossible to put down! It is a very thought provoking story about 'life' and the sheer ordinariness of it. I felt as though I was part of the character's lives and seriously did not want the story to end. Cannot recommend it more highly. I am now shopping on Amazon for all this author's books!!!!
Format:Paperback
The main character, Lydia, says about herself that she is a ' cleaning woman leading a more or less humble, largely uneventful life in New York City' (p.137). Still that makes a good read about her little family and her generous employer Mr (s) Osprey hovering over the story like a guardian angel.
Format:Paperback
This is another novel about Cuban immigrants living in New York, pretty much the same ground the novelist has written about before. Still, Hijuelos is a fantastic stylist and this was a quick, enjoyable read.
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