I wanted to read this book after I heard the author claim that it was Galicia, not Latin America, that was the source of magical realism. Because Cuba is You is a fictionalised biography of his grandmother. She was born in Galicia, the daughter of a healer - or witch - in an impoverished community where immigration was the only escape. After marriage and a period as a travelling fortune-teller lands her in trouble with the law, she emigrates to Cuba. Cuba contrasts dramatically with the hovels and hamlets of Galicia. Life is fast, vivid and cosmopolitan. She finds work as a servant, has a dramatic affair and becomes embroiled in the complex political forces in the country. A spell is cast on her which means she both returns to Galicia and stays on the island. In Cuba, she is at the heart of the international anarchist movement. In Galicia, so long isolated from the world, Franco's Fascists are encroaching. Although the narrative is largely linear, the novel is made up of fragments - sensuous detail interspersed with historical accounts and the reminiscences of the author's grandmother as an old woman. Because Cuba is You is about the immigrant experience, political movements in two continents and a woman who lives two lives, her identity shaped by both. And a little bit of magic.
