Distant Palaces

Abilio Estvez conjures up the melancholy beauty of contemporary Havana with passion and eloquence in this story about a trio of misfits. When Victorio learns that his home is about to be demolished he leaves his job, burns his possessions and takes to the streets. Wandering the city, he meets two people who change his life: Salma, a young prostitute, and Don Fuco, an enigmatic old man who performs as a clown. In the ruins of an old theatre, Don Fuco initiates his new friends into the secrets of poetry and theatre, bringing beauty, magic and exuberance into the pinched lives of Havana's citizens. Distant Palaces is a novel about human resilience and joy in the face of crushing odds. It confirms Abilio Estvez as one of Latin America's most talented and inventive novelists.