The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

A mysterious book with a legacy spanning from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day unites three women in this unforgettable novel

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

September 2025; Berkley; 978-0593816929
audio, ebook, print (352 pages); historical fiction

This beautifully written novel follows three women in different time periods whose lives have intersected over a book written in  Cuba in the early 1900s.  Only one copy of the book was printed, and someone wants to find it before it goes up for auction.

1900 - Boston and Cuba.  Eva is a teacher who is sent from Cuba to America during the summer of 1900 to attend and exchange of ideas at Harvard.  Her country is trying to become a free country, and she wants to do her part to help.  She has been working on writing a novel for years and believes that she will have some free time during the summer to work on her book.  Then she meets a man who sweeps her off her feet.  Instead of spending time on her book, she spends every available minute with him. After the tumultuous outcome of their affair, Eva finally writes her novel, hoping that he will read it.  That book is what ties all three women together.

1966 Havana.  Pilar is a librarian.  Life isn't safe in Cuba during this time period.  Fidel Castro is in charge and punishing anyone who speaks against him.  Pilar should be safe, but after her husband was arrested, she began to feel like she was being watched.  A friend in her apartment building is getting ready to flee Cuba and brings Pilar a copy of The Lost Story to her in hopes that she can find the author and return the book to her. She is still being watched, and someone in the government knows that she is hiding books for people to keep them safe.  How much danger is she willing to put herself into by trying to protect the books? 

2024 London.  Margo owns a company that looks for lost things.  When she is hired to find The Lost Story, she isn't sure why the book is important to the person who hired her, but she begins her search.  Soon her life is in danger, and she's being followed.  She has no idea why this book is important, and when someone who was helping her gets killed, she decides that maybe she should stop.  Her ex-husband begins to help her, but as they get closer to finding the book, the danger to both of them increases.

The story is told in alternating chapters by all three women.  The author did a fantastic job, and there's no confusion about any of the women, and you always know which time period you are in.  She also melds all three stories seamlessly for the ending.  I not only enjoyed the story but also learned a lot about Cuban history while I was reading.  This book is another great book from Chanel Cleeton.

One of my favorite quotes from the book was 

"There was something about books that brought people together, a passion, a devotion that created an intimate bond and understanding.  After all books spoke to the deepest part of the soul and so they linked readers in unforgettable ways.  Sharing a book was like creating a shared history between people who had navigated the life and the world that existed within the novel's pages." (loc 3816)

Buy The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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