Arturo O'Farrill

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Oscar Hijuelos comes a "massively engaging...masterpiece of history, music, wonder, and sorrow" about a composer returning to his beloved homeland after WWII (Kirkus, starred review). The year is 1947. Israel Levis, a Cuban composer whose life once revolved around music and love, is finally returning home. En route to Habana, Cuba from Spain, he is a shadow of his former self, disillusioned after he was mistakenly sent to a camp during the Nazi occupation of France. In Habana, he escapes his anguish by reminiscing about his happiest moments before the war, when he lived a life of pleasure and excitement-and had a loving, if unrequited romance with Rita Valladares, the alluring singer who inspired Levis' most famous composition, "Rosas Puras." A tender homage to music, art, and a vibrant country at the edge of modernity, A Simple Habana Melody is a melodic, virtuoso performance from one of America's most talented writers. Includes a reading group guide.

It's a history that has involved periods of great friendship with robust trade and loose immigration policies. But the US-Mexican relationship has also been beset by wars, drug trade, and human trafficking. And with the latest Trump-induced xenophobia towards Mexico this book contextualizes how it is the latest swing in the up-and-down two-hundred-year history between these countries. THROUGH THESE WALLS also addresses how the broken relationship between these countries have been repaired in the past and will provide clarity to the current debate regarding building the wall and America's posture towards immigrants.