Why a Booktrail?
Set in various times: A very alternative Cuba…..
Set in various times: A very alternative Cuba…..
A magical pigs foot anulet started his trail and this type of search is very interesting when it reveals the history of the country along the way.
Oscar Mandinga is a sardonic teller of tales – some taller than others – of slavery, revolution, family secrets, love and identity, spanning four generations.
One day Oscar Mandinga wakes to find himself utterly alone in the world yet he remembers what his grandfather always told him: ‘No man knows who he is until he knows his past, the history of his country.’
As Oscar sets out to find his ancestral village of Pata de Puerco and the meaning of the magical pig’s-foot amulet he has inherited, the search for his country’s hidden history becomes entangled with his search for the truth about himself.
Pig’s Foot is a hamlet so remote that no-one else in Cuba has heard of it. Pata de puerco (fictional) is where much of the novel is set
It’s not a place that many people would want to go either judging by the poverty there and the bad and squalid conditions.
Against a backdrop of historical fiction merged with stories of the character , it’s a good way of learning about the history of Cuba although the novel focuses on the trials and tribulations of the tiny little village with the rather strange name. The people there and life in that village was endlessly fascinating. Vivid, descriptive and a whole new world.
Author/Guide: Carlos Acosta Destination: Cuba Departure Time: Various
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