The Price of Paradise by Susana Lopez Rubio and translated by Achy Obejas is about a young couple in Cuba in the late 1940s- Gloria and Patricio- who want to run away and start a new life together. The main obstacle is her mobster husband, Cesar Valdes. He is not a mobster with a heart of gold. He doesn’t have a soft spot for his family or animals. Gloria married him to protect her family from Cesar’s vengeful nature.

I chose this book based on the description on Amazon : Falling in love with the mobster’s young wife, Gloria, is suicide. But Patricio is irresistibly drawn to the beautiful girl with sad eyes, a razor-sharp intellect, and a penchant for both Christian Dior’s clothes and Einstein’s theories. 

I really enjoyed reading how each character became who they were. Patricio came to Cuba with no money but he became successful. Gloria could have gotten a formal education if she hadn’t met Cesar. She was very bright and always willing to learn.

How was Gloria ever going to get away from her husband? Would she ever be free? Would Gloria and Patricio ever be together?

There are some people on Amazon who are offended by the curse words in this book. I’m not one of those people. It does not have excessive profanity but if you’re easily offended then don’t read this one I guess. Good luck with finding something to read without curse words, though. Do you guys think that the use of curse words means that the writer is less creative?

After reading their reviews, I wonder if they even read The Price of Paradise or any other book written in the last ten years. Do you even read, bro?

Other reviewers on Amazon don’t think that this is historical fiction. According to study.com, the definition of historical fiction is “a work of writing that reconstructs the past.” The beginning date in this book is 1947 so it is technically historical fiction. A book does not have to be set in the 16th century to be historical. Some people . . . To h*#@ with those f+#*ing people. (Sorry, not sorry.)

Anyway, I enjoyed this book – the characters, the history, the different locations. Everything. I loved everything about The Price of Paradise.

• Affiliate link included in this post.