This is the second book I finished in 2010.

Days of Awe by Achy Obejas

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Days of Awe is a poetic book. It's the story of a family of exiles who settle in Chicago after leaving Cuba. Told from the point of view of narrator Alejandra, who was born on the same day that Fidel Castro rose to power, the novel explores what it means to belong.

This novel is as much about the family as it is about Alejandra. They're all caught between multiple worlds, trying to find how to balance being Cuban with being American and, for Alejandra's father and his extended family, how to balance being Cuban with being Jewish.

Both Alejandra and her father work as translators, which adds a lyrical edge to the novel as the readers get to explore the root of words in Spanish and English (love is one of them) along with the characters. Achy Obejas also excelled at writing landscapes: In Havana, everything is so crisp, it feels like you're there. I especially appreciated the descriptions of my Chicago neighborhood.

The novel unwraps like an onion and it's well-crafted; however it ends abruptly after a critical plot point is revealed. I felt a touch cheated, as the final incident didn't seem strong enough to be the catalyst for the rest of the book. At times I was annoyed by the constant switch in the way she identified people. She'd use "my father" and "Enrique" (his name) in the same paragraph, which pulled me out of the story. And, even though there's a glossary in the back, so much of the allusions and symbolism is based on an understanding of Judaism and Cuba that I wonder if the novel would make sense to someone unfamiliar with Hebrew and Spanish.

That said, it's a beautiful book that I'm glad I read.