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With his previous novels, Francisco Goldman
has reaped immense acclaim and established himself as an
American voice of vital importance. His third novel is a
marvelous tale of great love, the soul of the Americas and
the birth of the modern spirit, set in the convents, ballrooms,
and coffee plantations of late-nineteenth-century Central
America and the docks, rooming houses, and stately Fifth
Avenue addresses of New York.
When we meet María de las Nieves
Moran, she is a bookish and dreamy novice nun-until the country's
new ruler
closes the convents. What will be her fate in the secular
world? When María de las Nieves enrolls in a writing
class under José Martí, her life is transformed
by the brilliant poet and hero of Cuban independence, whose
year in that Central American capital results in Latin America's
most famous love poem. María de las Nieves's story
unfolds among an unforgettable cast of characters striving
for love or success. And when María de las Nieves
departs for New York years later, young daughter in tow,
she continues to evade the mystery of who, of her many suitors,
is the girl's father, and what really happened between her
and José Martí.
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