When the Cages Fall Open - by Chantel Acevedo (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

When the Cages Fall Open is a sweeping, polyphonic portrait of a man seen through the eyes of those who loved him, feared him, and betrayed him. At its center is Felix--a zookeeper in 1960s Cuba, an exile in London, and finally a dying man in Miami. His story is pieced together like a puzzle that can never fully be solved by one who knew him only as an absence and seeks to know him before it is too late.

In Cuba, during the Missile Crisis, Felix risks everything for an illicit love affair with René, a fellow keeper. In a society where homosexuality is branded "counterrevolutionary," their tenderness unfolds in the shadow of danger, betrayal, and political oppression. In London, Felix and his wife Anabel navigate exile and reinvention, while an aspiring actress named Claudia finds herself drawn into their orbit, her ambitions and desires colliding with Felix's own hunger for connection. Years later, Virgilio--Anabel's devoted brother--recounts the disintegration of Felix's marriage and the exile that follows, even as he steps in to protect the family Felix abandoned.

From Anabel, long silent about her complicity in the events that forced Felix's flight from Cuba, to Rita, the daughter who knew him differently, each voice brings a sliver of truth. Together, these testimonies form a mosaic of longing, deception, survival, and reconciliation.

Spanning Havana, London, and Miami, Acevedo's luminous, formally inventive novel explores exile, forbidden love, fractured families, the nature of truth, and the stories we tell to make sense of the people we cannot forget.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Distant Marvels

"A modern riff on Scheherazade that celebrates the art of the story."--BookRiot

"Acevedo brilliantly conveys the dual nature of the stories we tell ourselves, which achieve grace and transformation through tempestuous churning. The Distant Marvels, like love itself, is both storm and shelter at once."--Justin Torres, National Book Award-winning author of Blackouts

"Lush and captivating . . . The women in these pages survive to tell their tales, and oh, what wondrous stories they are."--Marie Manilla, author of The Patron Saint of Ugly

"Exquisitely rendered. A Thousand and One Nights-style surrender to the true art of storytelling."--Ana Castillo, American Book Award-winning author of The Mixquiahuala Letters

"Acevedo's prose has an endearingly relaxed feel--like she's sitting across from you and telling the tale."--OZY

★ "A major, uniquely powerful, and startlingly beautiful novel that should bring Acevedo's name to the top echelon of this generation's writers."--Booklist (Starred Review)

★ "Irresistible moments of rebellion and bravery define this tale. Perfect timing for a Scheherazade-style account of Cuban history."--Kirkus (Starred Review)

"As Hurricane Flora blows past Fidel Castro's new Cuba, Acevedo's heartbreaking and humane novel comes to a memorable conclusion."--Publishers Weekly

"Here is a generous slice of Cuba's national epic, delivered by a mesmerizing tale-spinner."--Madison Smartt Bell, author of All Souls' Rising

"Acevedo is one of the most versatile and exciting writers of her generation, with a voice that speaks not only to the American experience, but to our universal humanity. I fall for her characters, whole-heartedly, while being covetous of her stunning prose."--Julianna Baggot, author of the Pure trilogy

"A compelling, gorgeously-written epic about Cuban women as fierce as the storms and the hardships they endure. Every scene, every detail, every utterance and intimacy feels richly, enchantingly true."--Cristina Garcia, author of Dreaming in Cuban

"I loved The Distant Marvels . . . Acevedo's language is liquid and gathering, mirroring the great ebb and swell of political struggle, transcending love, as well as the events that have gathered the storyteller, María Sirena, and her audience together under one brilliantly constructed 'roof.'"
--Ru Freeman, author of On Sal Mal Lane

"Acevedo hovers between poetry and prose, romance and history, nostalgia and modern life."--Margarita Engle, author of The Surrender Tree