REVOLUTION SUNDAY by Wendy Guerra is the story of Cleo, a poet who lives in Havana. Her parents were killed in a suspicious car accident, and Cleo feels that she is being shadowed by mysterious people. As luck would have it, her book of poems, unfortunately banned in Cuba, wins a prestigious prize in Barcelona. She manages to get out of her country to accept the honor, but this event sets in motion a series of roadblocks that serve to enhance her feelings of isolation and paranoia. The only person she trusts and with whom she is in daily contact is her housekeeper, Margara, who has worked for the family for many years.

Cleo meets a community of Cuban ex-patriots in Spain. Rather than support her and make her feel like one of them, they are suspicious of her and she knows it. This experience further fractures her self-esteem, and in a state of depression, she makes it back to her country. But she does not find peace of mind upon her return.

"With lyrical prose and on-target character development, Guerra tells Cleo’s story with a razor-like touch. This is not an especially large book, but it’s packed with pathos and humanity."

The narrative is told in the first person, which allows readers to immediately immerse themselves in Cleo’s life: “To me, Havana is no longer a capital city. It feels small and mediocre, and its beauty won’t keep it from Extinction. A city is made of its people, and between the ruins and the diaspora, we are wiping this place out.”

As the story moves along, Cleo finds herself totally detached from her surroundings and people: “Havana starts to become your enemy; its inhabitants, its inconvenience, the inability to feel good, it all works against you.”

However, Cleo does meet an actor/filmmaker, Gerónimo Martines, who claims to know more about her parents than she does. Unfortunately, he is unreliable and ultimately betrays her. He wants to make a documentary about her father, who was a dissident. This further isolates her; despite a roaring love affair, once the movie is completed, Gerónimo abandons her.

The Cuban police have her in their sights, and she is never able to let her guard down. They do not bring any kind of charges against her, but all that she must endure bring to the fore her quickly deteriorating mental state.

With lyrical prose and on-target character development, Guerra tells Cleo’s story with a razor-like touch. This is not an especially large book, but it’s packed with pathos and humanity.