Beautiful Maria of My Soul, Oscar Hijuelos
Beautiful Maria of My Soul, Oscar Hijuelos
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Beautiful Maria of My Soul

Author: Oscar Hijuelos

Narrator: Armando Durn

Unabridged: 12 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/01/2010

Synopsis

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love is a contemporary American classic, a book that still captivates and inspires readers twenty years after its first publication. Now, in Beautiful Maria of My Soul, Oscar Hijuelos returns to this indelible story, to tell it from the point of view of its beloved heroine, Maria.Shes the great Cuban beauty who stole musician Nestor Castillos heart and broke it, inspiring him to write the Mambo Kings biggest hit, Beautiful Maria of My Soul. Now in her sixties and living in Miami with her pediatrician daughter, Teresa, Maria remains a beauty, still capable of turning heads. But she has never forgotten Nestor, and as she thinks back to her daysand nightsin Havana, an entirely new perspective on the Mambo Kings story unfolds.

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

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