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Beautiful Maria of My Soul

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a contemporary American classic, a book that still captivates and inspires readers more than twenty years after its first publication. Now, in Beautiful Maria of My Soul, Oscar Hijuelos returns to this indelible story, to tell it from the point of view of its beloved heroine, Maria.

She's the great Cuban beauty who stole musician Nestor Castillo's heart and broke it, inspiring him to write the Mambo Kings' biggest hit, "Beautiful Maria of My Soul." Now in her sixties and living in Miami with her pediatrician daughter, Teresa, Maria remains a beauty, still capable of turning heads. But she has never forgotten Nestor, and as she thinks back to her days—and nights—in Havana, an entirely new perspective on the Mambo Kings story unfolds.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Oscar Hijuelos introduced the world to Cesar and Nestor Castillo in THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE (1989). Now, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author tells the story of the beautiful Cuban woman who inspired Nestor to write a haunting bolero, "Beautiful Maria of My Soul," about the girl he left behind but never forgot. Armando Dur‡n's interpretation couldn't be more sensitive, more evocative, or more erotic as he tackles the complexities and contradictions of Beautiful Maria, who leaves her peasant origins to find love and glamour in 1950s Havana. Dur‡n maintains a narrator's objective distance yet creates unforgettable characters brimming with passion. In the novel's amusing last section, a sheepish Hijuelos appears, finally meeting the flesh-and-blood Beautiful Maria. Dur‡n's sensual performance will melt your earbuds. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 8, 2010
      In a sequel of sorts to The Mambo King Play Songs of Love
      , Hijuelos examines the life of the muse of that novel as she moves from childhood to the fast lane in mid-20th century Cuba. María enchants whether she's dancing in clubs, appearing in advertisements, or walking the sweltering streets of Havana. Her story is one of fierce love, luscious sex, and otherworldly beauty, but also of heartbreak and hardness, as she carries painful memories of the death of her sister and her dear mother. The two main men in her life are Ignacio, a nefarious, strong-willed businessman who provides poor María with extravagant clothes and an apartment, and Nestor, a poor musician whom she loves passionately. Less prominent but still present is María's daughter, Teresa, and her growing up in America. Hijuelos's Havana is as much a full-fleshed character as María as it endures the rise of Castro and the mass exodus of Cubans to Miami in the 1960s. An intelligent and playful ending caps off a vivid story that should delight readers of The Mambo Kings
      and enthrall those new to Hijuelos's imaginative and florid voice.

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  • English

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