I had to grit my teeth to get through this book, which was the next one from the shelves of my local library. There were many things about it which I did not like and yet is held a fascination for me and that fascination was the immersion in downtown Havana Cuba. Zoé Valdes is a Cuban author living in self exile in Paris since 1995. She was born in Havana in 1959 the year when the corrupt Baptista regime was overthrown and Fidel Castro established his communist government. Her family would therefore have been used to the cultural norms of the old regime. Her novel tells the story of Cuca Perez who was in her late teens living in Havana at the time of the communist insurrection and I was surprised how the perspective of the book was towards the right. So extreme in fact that the author cannot bring herself to name Castro; she calls him Taille Extra (french translation).

Cuca Perez lives with an aunt in a rumbustious household that also contains two slightly older girls who get by living off the men and women that they pick up in the club scene in Havana. Cuca shares a room with these two and has to spend many nights out on the landing while they entertain their clients. Most nights they are taken downtown by Ivo, who runs a car and they take Cuca with them to introduce her to the nightlife. Cuca meets Ouane who teaches her how to dance and takes her virginity. He has money, but he appears and disappears blaming his business interests, Cuca is head over heels in love with him. She becomes pregnant and one night he visits her at home and gives her a dollar bill, which he says she must guard with her life as he has to go away for some time. Thirty six years later Cuca is still dreaming of L'Ouane, she like many poor people in Havana is scraping by trying to feed herself, always glancing round in case she see's L'Ouane and one day she does see him. He is anxious to see her and wants to meet his daughter, now of course a grown up woman working as a journalist. He also is desperate to trace that dollar bill that he left with Cuca.

The story is an interesting one covering the political divide that happened in Cuba during the late 1950's and which led to a change in life style's when the Cuban regime was ostracised by the West. The embargo placed on it by the USA and the regimes dependence on Russian support led to difficult times for a population stuck on "prison island" (Zoe Valdez). Cuca unwittingly becomes peripherally involved in the politics through her connection with L'Ouane. There is a marked contrast to life in old Havana when it was full of American tourists and the clubs and bars were doing tremendous business, to the desperate struggle for existence under the communist regime. Valdez has a love for the old Havana and her passion for the city pours out of these pages. She combines the sights with the sounds of Cuban popular music, frequently quoting from popular songs and popular works of art. The dance and rhythm of the city make this novel come alive at times.

However apart from the right wing perspective which does not sit well with me, there are other difficulties. The novel sprawls and if this was meant to portray life in Havana, then it is a fine artistic achievement, but I doubt this very much. Apart from the popular culture, which is all pervading there are also recipes, idle thoughts of the characters and reflections that seem to come from elsewhere. The novel dwells on the filth and degradation of the city and at times on the sexual predilections of the characters. It does seem at times to wallow in its own disgust. However in my opinion its worst fault is a continual conversation with the would be reader. I never though I would find a novelist who would "get in my face" so much, even offering to rewrite the ending if it was not to my taste.

The novel was originally written in Spanish (Te Di La Vida Entera) and translated into french by Liliane Hasson and could not have been an easy task as she must have run out of words or phrases describing male and female sexual parts. Just taking the next book along the shelf as a way of selecting a library book is obviously going to throw up some curve balls and I haven't found one yet that was a waste of time. This one perhaps took up too much of my time, but it did lead me to refresh myself on Cuban history and learn a little about Cuban popular culture. 3 stars. ( )

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Una novela rebosante de humor ácido y erotismo, que retrata sesenta años de la vida de una mujer cubana. Una magnífica novela sobre el deseo, la esperanza y el desencanto. Te di la vida entera es la historia de Cuca, Cu-quita, la Niña Cuca -como todo el mundo la llama-, que con poco más de dieciséis años llega a La Habana prerrevolucionaria. Allí, con la complicidad de dos vo-luptuosas mujeres con las que entablará una estrecha amistad, conocerá el sabor y el ritmo de la noche habanera. Después de un baile enloquecido y un largo y apasionado beso, la Niña Cuca cae perdidamente enamorada de un hombre que desaparece sin dejar rastro. Pero ella sabe mantenerse fiel a su promesa, y ocho años más tarde, cuando por fin se reencuentran, inician una desenfrenada historia de amor. Pero la felicidad abandona pronto a Cuca, una mujer a quien la vida le cambia cada vez que escucha un bolero. De nuevo sola, durante los primeros años de la Revolución Cuca se dedica en cuerpo y alma a sacar adelante a su hija y a esperar el regreso de su amante. A medida que se van imponiendo la degradación, el desabastecimiento y la miseria, su ilusión irá menguando para convertirse en absurdo. Al ritmo de la música cubana, el lector recorrerá los excesos y el envilecimiento de la vida antes y después de la Revolución. Te di la vida entera es una novela rebosante de humor ácido y erotismo que retrata sesenta años de la vida de una mujer cubana. Con mucho desparpajo y haciendo gala de un impresionante dominio del lenguaje, Zoé Valdés ha escrito una magnífica novela sobre el deseo, la esperanza y el desencanto. Esta novela ha quedado finalista del Premio Planeta 1996.
Finalista Premio Planeta de Novela 1996

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