Introduction

Maria Sirena tells stories. She does it for money—she was a favorite in the cigar factory where she worked as a lettora—and for love, spinning gossamer tales out of her own past for the benefit of friends, neighbors, and family. But now, like a modern-day Scheherazade, she will be asked to tell one last story so that eight women can keep both hope and themselves alive.
 
Cuba, 1963. Hurricane Flora, one of the deadliest hurricanes in recorded history, is bearing down on the island. Seven women have been forcibly evacuated from their homes and herded into the former governor’s mansion, where they are watched over by another woman, a young soldier of Castro’s new Cuba named Ofelia. Outside the storm is raging and the floodwaters are rising. In a single room on the top floor of the governor’s mansion, Maria Sirena begins to tell the incredible story of her childhood during Cuba’s Third War of Independence; of her father Augustin, a ferocious rebel; of her mother, Lulu, an astonishing woman who fought, loved, dreamed, and suffered as fiercely as her husband. Stories, however, have a way of taking on a life of their own, and transported by her story’s momentum, Maria Sirena will reveal more about herself than she or anyone ever expected.
 
Chantel Acevedo’s The Distant Marvels is an epic adventure tale, a family saga, a love story, a stunning historical account of armed struggle against oppressors, and a long tender plea for forgiveness. It is, finally, a life-affirming novel about the kind of love that lasts a lifetime and the very art of storytelling itself.

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Excerpt

Prologue
An unexpected envelope was delivered to me two months ago, on the first day of June. The outer package displayed the address of the University of Havana, Department of History in blue ink and a symmetrical print. My name was written in a different hand, and my address seemed to belong to yet another, as if the package had passed from person to person, each contributing some element to its outward appearance. Unnerved by all of those invisible hands, I left the package alone. But I could feel its presence, like fingers reaching into my purse, or trying to lift my skirt slowly. Accustomed to being alone, the package began to feel like an intrusion, and I could no longer stand it. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

María Sirena’s mother Lulu had the spirit of a true revolutionary, but as a woman, lacked the social position to fight for the cause. What does The Distant Marvels suggest about the place of women in history?

Why is Agustín so determined to keep Lulu and María Sirena in his life when he expresses so little affection for them?

As the storm approaches and the pain in her side flares, María Sirena sends up a prayer that someone will remember her after she’s gone. Why do you think she desires this? Do you ever think about your own life in those terms?

After living the strangely sheltered life of a child prisoner, at the age of fourteen María Sirena is thrown into a world of conflict. Is there a singular moment in the story when she becomes an adult, or is it a gradual transformation?

How has motherhood shaped María Sirena, softened or hardened her remembrances, changed her perspective on herself as a younger woman?

Does María Sirena ever get the “cosmic justice” that Dulce claims the world lacks? What would that justice be?

Do you think it was reasonable for Mireya to blame María Sirena for her son’s death?

What is the relationship between María Sirena’s ailing physical body and her vision of herself as a young woman? What does The Distant Marvels suggest about the relationship of the physical body to the life of the mind and the spirit?

How does the Casa Velazquez serve as a metaphor for the dramatic changes taking place across Cuba?

What aspects of The Distant Marvels recall the form of a fairytale or an epic?

What relevance does storytelling have in contemporary life? Is it a way to preserve valuable history, or a way of obscuring the cold facts of history?

Is it possible to look objectively at one’s own history? How objective or subjective is María Sirena’s tale?

What does The Distant Marvels suggest about the relationship between the individual and history? How much of an individual’s life is shaped by the history that precedes them, and how much power does an individual have to shape their future?

At the end of The Distant Marvels, do you think that María Sirena has forgiven herself for what happened to her mother, Mario, and Mayito? Did she ever deserve blame for their fate, and if so, does she deserve forgiveness?

Weblinks

»	Author Chantel Acevedo's web site
»	Publisher's Book Info

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