The Last Masquerade

by Antonio Orlando Rodriguez, Ernesto Mestre - Reed (Translator)

In the Roaring Twenties, two worldly young aristocrats embark on a journey to see one of their idols, the sublime Italian actress Eleonora Duse, who, to their utmost delight, has recently returned to the stage. What follows as they prepare for their adventure and, later, when they arrive in the Cuban capital, is a hilarious, erotic, and political tragicomedy, told in hallucinatory language, volcanic in its invention, and replete with Rabelaisian characters: among them, a quasi-widow who runs her family as if it were an army, sisters too ugly to marry off, a kind friend with the face of a monkey, a hermaphrodite nun, an iconoclastic, dissolute painter, the handsomest communist who ever lived, disheartened phantoms, bands of irresistible Cuban men, transmigrating souls, and, finally, the very seed of a demon who will one day make the Island his own.

As they struggle to meet the celebrated actress, the two protagonists find themselves bouncing from the somber offices of the Cuban secret police to an Arabian Nights-inspired ball, to an agitated Lenin tribute and a drum celebration honoring Babalu Aye, to a horrific crime scene in the heart of Havana's Chinatown, and through a world of sordid brothels and interracial orgies.

Yet at the heart of The Last Masquerade is its most unforgettable creation, the sickly, reclusive, and wearied stage legend Eleonora Duse, whose voice is heard at intervals throughout, as if from a distant land, revealing for the first time the story of her private life. She was rivaled in her day only by the great Sarah Bernhardt, and Duse's passing encounters with her two aristocratic fans reveal a person different from the one they had imagined: an ordinary woman whose life has been fueled by loss and sorrow, haunted by the fragility of love and by an inordinate intimacy with death, all of which she has used as instruments with which to sharpen her craft.

As the final curtain drops on the novel, we are let into the mystery of a world long forgotten, of two cosmopolitan centers outside Europe and America where the ruling class had as much fun as anyone in the world, and, like everyone else, had to suffer the consequences.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

464 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1975

About the author

The Cuba-born Antonio Orlando Rodriguez is one of the leading authors of contemporary Latin American fiction. Rodríguez born in Ciego de Avila, Cuba, in 1956. He's written many books for children and teenagers, in addition to the short story books "Striptease" (1985) and "Querido" Drácula (1989), the play "El León y la Domadora (1998) and the novel "Aprendices de brujo" (The Last Masquerade, 2002).
He studied journalism in the Universidad de La Habana, Cuba. He has lived in Costa Rica, Colombia, and, as of 1999, in the United States.

Antonio Orlando Rodríguez es uno de los más destacados autores de la literatura latinoamericana actual. Rodríguez nació en Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, en 1956. Ha escrito numerosos libros para niños y adolescentes, además de las colecciones de cuentos para adultos "Striptease" (1985), la obra de teatro "El León y la Domadora" (1998) y la novela "Aprendices de brujo" (2002).
Estudió periodismo en la Universidad de La Habana. Vivió en Costa Rica, Colombia y, desde 1999, en los Estados Unidos.

Reviews

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is wonderful. Havana in the 20's, a gay couple, and the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. What more could you want? How about Eladora Duse! And it has some great laughts!

My ignorance of some of the South American Divas and historical figures, but I use my mother's time honored method and just say "Skip over the River" or go to the internet and look them up.

My one regret is that I don't read Spanish to read more of his works in the original language.

[Lord Beardsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so full of promise from the cover...homosexuals, flappers, the 1920s, depravity, decadence...but it ended up just really boring. I just rememberd parties and it was in...South America. But it wasn't interesting. It's a big let-down.

[Ari Rickman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author does a good job bringing the characters to life. And there are plenty of enjoyable antics and funny situations.

But ultimately the story, like the main character, seems to take itself a little too seriously. It was just hard to care that much about the characters' petty problems.

[Salina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was alright but not worth the time and effort it took to choke it down. It was boring and difficult to follow. Started off pretty good and just didn't go anywhere. But lots of gay love.

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Las aventuras de dos caballeros bogotanos en La Habana de los 1920s. Excelente! No dejen de leerla.

[Stephanie Heenan-orr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but the ending didn't live up to the rest of the book.