"e;Savor the mysterious power of a master's pentimento."e; --Los Angeles Times"e;It takes a lot of nerve and skill to pull off something as rich as Beautiful Mar a of My Soul, but pull it off Hijuelos does."e; --Cleveland Plain Dealer"e;I fell instantly in love with the glorious soul of Beautiful Mar a of My Soul. Hijuelos has created and brought to life two beloved characters, a heart-stealing heroine and Havana during an epoch of changing fate."e; --Amy Tan, bestselling author of The Joy Luck ClubIn Beautiful Mar a of My Soul, Oscar Hijuelos returns to the passionate tale he began twenty years ago in The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.Mar a is the great Cuban beauty who stole musician Nestor Castillo's heart and broke it, inspiring him to write the Mambo Kings' biggest hit, "e;Beautiful Mar a of My Soul.'"e; Now in her sixties and living as an exile in Miami, Mar a remains a beauty, still capable of turning heads. But while she left Cuba decades ago, she has never forgotten Nestor.

As she thinks back to her days--and nights--in Havana, an entirely new perspective on the Mambo Kings story unfolds. Beautiful Mar a of My Soul is a stunning act of reinvention, and another contemporary classic from an extraordinarily talented writer.