I liked this book, but I think I expected to like it more. It seemed to be a little imbalanced as historical fiction, taking up long passages of dialogue to explain history. The author explains it well, but these conversations became such burdens of 'telling and not showing' that I became restless to move on. The characters are wonderful, though, and I did learn a bit about Cuban history. About 2/3 of the way through, though, the action and revelations really geared up and the end of the book flew by. I just wish some of the first 2/3 were as propulsive.