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Saga of Family In Spanish Harlem Enthralls

© Robert Powers

It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love reached bestsellerdom and eventually won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. That magnificent novel of Cubans in New York established author Oscar Hijuelos as a major force in American literature.

A son of Cuban immigrants, Hijuelos was born on New York City's Upper West Side in 1951. His new novel, Empress of the Splendid Season (Harper Flamingo, $25) focuses on one Cuban immigrant family in Spanish Harlem from the 1940s to the present.

At the book's center is Lydia Espana, the fiery daughter of relatively well-to-do Cuban family exiled from her native country because of one night's indiscretion. Her father, a landowner and official of a small village, sends her away. She eventually ends up with pride intact, but unable to achieve anything like the position of respect she had enjoyed in her native land. She works for a time in a dingy sewing factory, but eventually meets Raul, a fellow immigrant with a complaining ex-wife and son back home. His earnings as a waiter are lessened by his regular payments for the upkeep of his previous family.

In the years following World War II, Lydia and Raul bring up two rambunctious children. When Raul suffers a series of heart attacks, it falls on Lydia to become the major breadwinner for a while, until her husband can recover sufficiently to return to his low-paying job.

Possessed of great pride in her family background, Lydia must take a job as a cleaning lady, working in the homes of those much richer that's she'd ever hope to be in this harsh new land. She meets all kinds of people, from those who are kind and benevolent, to those whose private lives shock this strong and beautiful young man.

Daughter Alicia, upon reaching her teen years, becomes a gorgeous young woman whose face and figure attract the neighborhood youths. Meanwhile, younger brother Rico is moody and withdrawn, eventually falling into a potential disaster by being with a hoodlum. Caught and brought home by police, Rico's potential downfall turns around when one of his mother's employers sees that the youngster receives proper help from an attorney. Eventually Rico receives the chance to attend private schools and the university, all because his mother has made such a good impression with one of her richest and most influential employers.

Empress of the Splendid Season (the title refers to a poem written in Lydia's honor) is a quiet but completely engaging and involving novel. It's a testament to the power of family to overcome some of life's toughest challenges.

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