num_pages: 352
description: In 1950s Manhattan, Nestor and Cesar Castillo play the sumptuous mambo beats of their native Cuba, where their biggest hit, “Beautiful Maria of My Soul,” earns them a spot on “I Love Lucy” –but their hopes for the future are dashed by a tragic accident. Hijuelos returns to the story of his Pulitzer-Prize winning The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, this time telling it from Maria’s perspective. Maria arrives in Havana, one of the great beauties in a city of gorgeous chorus girls, and becomes the true passion of Nestor’s life. Having fled Cuba and her life there, Maria has never forgotten Nestor or the promise of what could have been, her memories set to the song bearing her name.
language: English
title: Beautiful Maria of My Soul
publisher: Hyperion Books