A Simple Habana Melody * Oscar Hijuelos

Returning home to Havana in 1947 after surviving a harrowing wartime imprisonment in Europe, an aging Cuban composer reflects on the golden years of his music, his vibrant homeland, and the unrequited love that inspired his most famous rumba.

The Story. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Oscar Hijuelos, this novel offers a lyrical, nostalgic portrait of art, memory, and longing. In 1947, composer Israel Levis returns to Habana from Spain, physically and spiritually worn down after being mistakenly sent to Buchenwald during the Nazi occupation of France. Surrounded once again by the warm breezes and familiar rhythms of Cuba, Levis drifts back into memories of 1920s Havana and Paris - and his chivalrous, unrequited devotion to Rita Valladares, the captivating singer who inspired his 1928 sensation, "Rosas Puras" ("Pretty Roses"). Blending rich sensory detail with tender reflections on faith, friendship, and the passing of an era, Hijuelos captures both the vibrancy of pre-war Cuban music and the quiet resilience of the human heart.

Perfect For. Literary and historical fiction readers, book clubs, and music lovers drawn to evocative, character-rich storytelling alongside Oscar Hijuelos's The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Cristina García's Dreaming in Cuban, Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind, or Isabel Allende's A Long Petal of the Sea.

Published 2002 by HarperCollins.

Literary & Historical Fiction /  Cuban & Latin American Literature / 20th-Century Historical Novels / Music & Composer Fiction / Post-WWII Stories / Pulitzer Prize-Winning Authors