Havana Lost

Havana Lost
Libby Fischer Hellman
The Red Herrings Press
Chicago, Illinois
ISBN: 978-1-938733-38-3
Paperback
August 16, 2013
$ 16.99
Coltan is a natural resource that most of us don't know much about. However, in today's society we are completely dependent upon this ore which is partially utilized in every cellphone and electronic device. Although it can be recycled, coltan is more economic to mine and is more valuable than gold. Because of the difficulty in extracting this ore and its limited availability, the value of this ore creates problems similar to the gold rush of many years ago.
Francesca Pacelli lives a life of privilege. She is the only child of a wealthy man who does have mafia connections and is the owner of the premier casino in Havana in the year 1958. With their close family ties in Chicago, there seems to be no limits to their power and influence.
As a teenager, she is accustomed to receiving admiring looks and has a steady relationship with a boy who attends an Ivy League school. Her future is definitely promising.
However 1958 in Cuba was not a settled time in the country with many rebels fighting the government of Batista.
Francisca’s father realizes the possible danger in their country and makes plan for her to return to Chicago which seems like a foreign country to her. Francesca meets a rebel who is different from anyone she has ever met, falling in love. She runs away with this man, missing her flight to the states leaving her parents wondering where she is really living.
However, her father's people eventually find her, removing her as an unmarried pregnant woman to live in Chicago. She has no idea what has happened to the man she loves.
Havana Lost is the story of Francesca, her love, her former love, her son, his wife, and their daughter along with coltan. The pace is quick, well-organized, and enthralling. With utilizing real history into this fictionalized story, Libby Fischer Helllman has proved her expertise as a writer beyond the mystery genre.
Previously, Libby Fischer Hellman has written numerous mystery novels often combining social problems into a fictional story. As a Washington D.C. Native to her life today in Chicago, she has written numerous novels.
Havana Lost is a wonderful novel from the historical aspect completely immersing the reader into the life of those living in Cuba through their revolution.