Her life was plagued by the trifecta. A disastrous triad of events impacted the very essence of who Lila was, not only her present but her future too. After pushing herself to the point of exhaustion and scaring her family, already struck with grief. The LAST NAME family has no other card left, but to send Lila to visit her family in Winchester, Hampshire, England. Separated from her family, beloved La Panderia kitchen, and left to confront her emotional inner turmoil with distant family. Lila finds solace in the neighborhood, with new friends and a friendly tea shop clerk, Orion.
As a Cuban woman who spent most of her life visiting family in Miami, this book spoke to my soul. All the family narrative mimicked something that would be overheard at reunions or muttered through the neighborhood chismosas (gossipers). It was such a slice of my life, one that I haven’t been able to find in literature before. What brings it to another level is that my sweetheart is British. When describing the plot of this book to him he simply said, “it’s like they took your life story...a Cuban girl coming to England and falling in love”. The dialogue between Orion and Lila is very reminiscent of our conversations..an unique mixture between Spanglish and British idioms. It’s something that has me smiling hours after reading and I often find myself reading passages aloud to him. My romantic and personal life aside, this book was captivating. It held my attention at every turn of the page and had me threatening to finish the book in one sitting. It’s only been a few months and I’ve already been recommending and handing my copy over for my loved ones to read and fall in love with this book. Very much looking forward to reading what Namey will publish in the future.
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