I was looking for something to read at home, and I discovered in a corner a small book with what was obviously a short novel. It’s by the Cuban author Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, and it’s titled Nuestro GG en la Habana.
Reading the back cover to see what it was about, it says that the story makes nods to the novel Our Man in Havana. Honestly, I haven’t read that one, so I have no idea if they share similarities. Though most likely, they do.
Nuestro GG en la Habana begins with an ordinary British man who happens to have the same initials as Graham Greene, the real author of Our Man in Havana. He decides to take on Greene’s identity, since upon arriving in Havana in 1955 to start a new life, the similarity in names and surnames makes it possible.
He then gets caught up in a very serious crime, and when the police investigation begins, the real Graham Greene enters the scene. From that point on, Graham becomes our protagonist, pursued—or rather sought—by the FBI, the KGB, a Nazi-hunting group, and even the mafia.
The story hooks you from the very first page. In fact, the character development is quite complete and interesting. However, I feel the author only stuck with the introduction and didn’t want to commit too much to a broader development of the story.
I would have liked him to be bolder in his writing, though I imagine it’s not easy to craft plots and subplots that keep the reader desperate to uncover more.
It’s the first novel I’ve read by a Cuban author, so I loved that it didn’t include anything related to the conflict between the Cuban Revolution and the U.S. governments, something that often happens with Cuban artistic works.
The portrayal of Republican-era Cuba also pleased me, since references to that past aren’t always easy to find, and it’s somewhat charming to know where one comes from—even if the past isn’t all that pretty.
In summary, Nuestro GG en la Habana has enough substance to captivate the reader, but it leaves us wanting more—or rather, much more. It could have been a great espionage and conspiracy novel.
English isn't my native language. Text translated with DeepL
Rating: 70/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/books.
