Queens of Havana

August 13, 2007
This evocative memoir is a joyous, rhythmic history of the 11 sisters who formed the fabled Cuban orquesta
Anacaona. Forced to abandon her studies after political events prompted university closings in 1932, Cuchito Castro got six of her younger sisters together to play son
, a blend of African rhythms and Spanish melodies, even though women were thought incapable of mastering the complex style. The band attracted attention on the radio and at night in Havana's open-air cafes. As Cuchito's other sisters grew into their teens, they joined Anacaona, and the group soared to international fame with recordings, films, TV, appearances with jazz greats and triumphant European tours, as seen in the 140 ads, menus, photos and posters scattered throughout the text. Saxophonist Alicia, now 87, regales her niece Ingrid with tales of the sisters' romantic escapades, Havana nightlife and sensual melodic midnights. The Castro sisters' story reverberates with exotic echoes of a fabulous long-ago era.

September 15, 2007
In the 1930s, Havana, though famous for its infectious music, wasnt a city in which one saw many women at its open-air nightclubs. Yet Castro and her nine sisters, wanting to help out the familys finances after her fathers grocery went under, were soon one of the hottest acts around, the band called Anacaona. Formed when the dictator Machado was tyrannizing the people with a bloody fist, but when Havana was still a major tourist draw, Anacaona counted such contemporary musical celebrities as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Nat King Cole among its fans, and it shared stages with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Cab Calloway. Before long, Anacaona was touring beyond Cuba during a career that lasted into the 1980s. Indeed, the surviving members still gather to make music. Castros abundantly and eye-catchingly illustrated memoir evokes a colorful time when rum and torrid rhythms brought boatloads of free-spending tourists to Cuba.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)