Loving Che

Loving Che

by Ana Menendez

Review $116

A Cuban woman living in Miami has been searching for her birth mother for years, making fruitless trips to Havana in her quest. She receives a package with Spanish postmarks and no return address. It contains letters and a picture of the revolutionary Che Guevera. Piecing together these clues, the narrator uncovers the story of an artist named Teresa who had a child with Che. Teresa also makes references to the narrator's life in her letters, with messages such as: 'Farewell, but you will be/with me, you will go within/a drop of blood circulating in my veins.'

Is Teresa's story real or imagined? Is Che her father? Menendez is at her best when revealing life for Cubans today. One character says it would be more interesting if Cuba were an actual police state. 'Instead,' she sighs, 'they have anaesthetised us with boredom.'