Caf¿ Con Leche

by Jack Eugene Fernandez

Four Cuban immigrants in the steamy cauldron of Ybor City confront their racism through the Great Depression, labor unrest, World War II, and the Castro Pablo the white, high-born opportunist who becomes wealthy as a war profiteer; Consuelo, his suffering wife who has a distant slave ancestor; Matilde, the brilliant but ill-fated, mixed-race idealist; and his exotically beautiful wife Zoraida, the driving, fanatical communist and Santer¿a adept. These characters interact in the multiethnic community that grew around the cigar industry. At the time, Ybor City was one of the few towns in America where they could have interacted as equals. It was indeed a rich pot of caf¿ con leche.

456 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2005

Reviews

[Diane]

Takes place in Ybor City. It is fiction, but gives you a feel for some of Tampa's history. Very well-written

[Reena]

best thing about this book are the details about tampa. which are not enough to actually make someone want to read it.

[Ann]

It reads as if it were translated from Spanish possibly. The sentences were a little choppy or just really basic like an elementary student may have written them.