Beautiful Maria of My Soul, Oscar Hijuelos
Beautiful Maria of My Soul, Oscar Hijuelos
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

Beautiful Maria of My Soul

Author: Oscar Hijuelos

Narrator: Armando Durán

Unabridged: 12 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/16/2024


Synopsis

In this mesmerizing sequel to a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, the "heart-stealing heroine" (Amy Tan) and muse of Cuban musician Nestor Castillo takes readers on the journey of a lifetime with this story of reinvention, romance, and revolution. 

In Beautiful María of My Soul, Oscar Hijuelos returns to the passionate tale he began twenty years ago in The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.

María is the great Cuban beauty who stole musician Nestor Castillo's heart and broke it, inspiring him to write the Mambo Kings' biggest hit, "Beautiful María of My Soul.'" Now in her sixties and living as an exile in Miami, María remains a beauty, still capable of turning heads. But while she left Cuba decades ago, she has never forgotten Nestor. As she thinks back to her days—and nights—in Havana, an entirely new perspective on the Mambo Kings story unfolds. Beautiful María of My Soul is a stunning act of reinvention, and another contemporary classic from an extraordinarily talented writer.

"Savor the mysterious power of a master's pentimento." —Los Angeles Times

"It takes a lot of nerve and skill to pull off something as rich as Beautiful MarÍa of My Soul, but pull it off Hijuelos does." —Cleveland Plain Dealer

"I fell instantly in love with the glorious soul of Beautiful María of My Soul. Hijuelos has created and brought to life two beloved characters, a heart-stealing heroine and Havana during an epoch of changing fate." —Amy Tan, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club

About Oscar Hijuelos

Oscar Hijuelos, the son of Cuban immigrants, was in New York City in 1951. He is a recipient of the Rome Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. His novels -- Mambo Kings, Our House in the Last World, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, Mr. Ives' Christmas, Empress of the Splendid Season, and A Simple Habana Melody -- have been translated into twenty-five languages.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tara on March 30, 2010

Halfway thru the reading of this novel, I had to drop it and run to the computer and open itunes where I proceeded to listen to The Mambo Kings for what may have been the first time in my life. My interest was picqued. I didn't buy this book to learn about the Mambo Kings. I got it cause the subject......more

Goodreads review by Laura on January 03, 2015

This is historical fiction and a sequel to The Mambo Kings, telling the story of the Maria behind the Castillo's bolero "Beautiful Maria of My Soul". The problem for me was, I didn't care. Perhaps by design, Maria is a cold character - beautiful, at first naive, and just, well, not a character I rel......more

Goodreads review by Chitra on May 21, 2012

A great read on many levels, with some serious shortcomings that might bother feminist readers. Be prepared for graphic sex scenes. Hijuelos' great strength lie in recreating a place, a time and a culture. See the review I wrote for the Portland Oregonian here: [URL not allowed]......more

Goodreads review by Florinda on March 01, 2012

I read Oscar Hijuelos'’ award-winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love nearly 20 years ago, when it was first published, and never gave much thought to its having a sequel. But when I learned that it had one - told from the perspective of the woman who inspired the fictional Castillo brother......more

Goodreads review by Lorraine on October 16, 2014

In 1990, Oscar Hujuelos wrote “The Mambo Kings Play Songs Of Love” and won a Pulitzer Prize. I didn’t read that book about the Castillo brothers, but “Beautiful Maria of My Soul” tells the story of the woman who captured the heart of Nestor Castillo, who with his brother Cesar left Cuba for New York......more