Up the Creek Book Club

The Second Death of Unica Aveyano

by Ernesto Mestre-Reed

June 2004

Synopsis

"One night in April, Unica Aveyano sneaks out of her Miami nursing home and wanders toward the sea. Whether she intends to end her life or simply look at the ocean depends on whom you believe. She leaves behind her husband, a devoted nurse, the solicitude of her family--and the images of a little boy name Elian Gonzalez that are all over the news.

Her rash decision sets in motion a gorgeously told tale that is at once comedy and elegy. Every lived moment evokes for Unica a story from her past, as we live that past with her, from the ghosts of her mother and stepfather in 1930s Guantanamo, and her beloved but wayward son, who refused to leave Cuba with the rest of the family, to her exile in Miami and New York City.

A chronicle of the familiar and strange, of madness and clarity, of the ambivalence of home and family. The Second Death of Unica Aveyano reveals unforgettably in indomitable woman whose entire life now seems a dress rehearsal for the heady days before her death."

Book Club Rating and Comments

If you or your book club has read this book and would like to share your comments, please email us at upthecreekbc@yahoo.com.