Half Past Noon In Cuba: a Novel

by Maximiliano Febles

"A breathtaking story of a family in the midst of chaos, struggling with all they have to stay strong despite the horrible events all around them. Febles has written a gripping tale that presents the tragic impact that the Castro Regime had on all aspects of life, for so many families – both then and now. Highly recommended!" The Columbia Review.

Genres: Travel

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2015

Reviews

[LindaMoctez · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book taught me a lot about Cuba's glory days, and the gradual dissatisfaction with Batista and the rise of "Fidelism", it felt laboured and contrived, almost trying too hard to convince the audience that the author's Cuba of old was the urban equivalent of the pastoral idyll. I for one was not convinced. I had just finished "Havana Nights", a detailed documentation of the mafia's infiltration into Batista's Cuba, so, freshly armed with these insights, it was hard to appreciate the author's nostalgia. Having said that, the witnessing of the deterioration of society during Castro's vicious retribution was extremely well documented and richly described. My heart broke for innocent students who had freely demonstrated one day, then imprisoned later as plotters against the state. The broken families and culture of fear became all too real and the ending was a masterpiece of pathos. It was for this I gave the stars.

[Lillian Warden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read! Communism ruins lives

I cannot imagine that my family experienced this, but they did. Very sad indeed, and eye-opening about the signs that existed but were not realized as true until too late.

[Eileen Vernor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book

While I sometimes got lost in extraneous details, the author paints a devastating picture of how so many lives were ruined in 1959 Cuba. The author creates well developed characters that are likable, at times too good to be true.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuba is fascinating, scary, and all to real. This story captures all the magic and tragedy of Cuba.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay

True story about the family of a college professor during the Cuban revolution, so somewhat interesting. But this book was early in need of editing, as the author has NO IDEA of basic English grammar or what constitutes a sentence.

[Laura Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Story A lot of History!

It was a story that I am sure many families can Relate to! The details of the Hotel Tropicana were Excellent!! Loved the debate on the Pro and Con On Communism!

[stella · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had potential.

Besides the very abrupt ending, some things bothered me. For example, the men who came to his house said he would show them everything in the house, but instead, they had him sit on his sofa to wait for them.

[francesca muhlbaier]

Poor writing and grammar

I was interested in the story line, but it became burdensome with characters, and so many loose ends. The ending was unbelievable, even as a fiction story. Where was the editor? Sorry, but true.

[loretta pickett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Half past noon in Cuba

Excellent read and difficult to comprehend how people born in
Cuba were so mistreated when the new regime came. And sad for all those needless killings.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such a poorly written book- could have been written by a teenager, and might therefore be of interest to a teen. I finished the book only because I wanted to find out how the wealthy lost what they had, and this book describes that. It covers the months before and after the communist takeover but there is no depth to the story at all. It was a struggle to put up with the bad writing.

[Coyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just returned from Cuba on a People 2 People tour.

Half Past Noon in Cuba is an excellent novel about families and friends dealing in the extreme difficult times of their changed government .

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!