The mansion in Miramar was illuminated like it once might have been before the revolution, every window aglow. Wedged between two unlit and decaying tenements it was like a healthy tooth in a rotten mouth. A line of 1950’s auto memorabilia stretched down the street, some gleaming with an owner’s…
The billboard on Avenida 26 that had celebrated 50 years of the triumph of the revolution for as many years as Northwick could remember, now displayed a brightly coloured picture of a coral reef with the words: ‘Cuba Libre: restoring Cuba’s coral reefs.’ The Harley sang with two voices, an…
‘People think tomorrow they can get rich. Those people are the procrastinators and the losers. NOW is the time to get rich.’ Dolores was transfixed. A religious fervour crackled in the air of the mouldy hall. She leaned forward in her seat, hands poised to clap. Elegant hands with…
Prologue Macao Village, Dominican Republic ‘Iye, iye, iye,’ they cried. A skinny kid wore a YSL belt to hold up the trousers of his funeral suit and played a bamboo trumpet. The trumpet wailed above the revving scooters and tattoo of the drums. The sun flashed on his belt…
Berlin Zoo – July 1945 Even the summer sun was ashamed to show its face, shrouded by ashen clouds that glowed as if from distant shell fire. Dust hung leaden in the air, and carcasses of once proud buildings spilled their viscera onto desolate streets where the contents of former…