Hagiography of Narcisa the Beautiful

Playing on the rich Latin American literary tradition of the Saint’s Life, Cuban writer Mireya Robles creates a humorous, ultimately horrifying vision of the nuclear family in this innovative novel, set in Cuba’s asphyxiating provincial society during the nineteen fifties. The philandering father, the sensitive yet sadistic older brother, the mother living on radio soap operas, the pretty, empty-headed younger sister – all are seen through the eyes of Narcisa, the relentlessly optimistic and ecstatic ugly duckling of her family. Narcisa’s imagination both endows and parodies her surroundings with rich comedy and grotesqueness.