La Travesa Secreta

This is a novel that takes place in Cuba during the end of the 1960s, as seen through the eyes of a teenage boy who is star struck by a group of actors. The young Marcos Manuel Velazco enters into an artistic, religious, political and sexual labyrinth, guided by a single factor: his quest for truth. His trips and adventures form an intricate plot, with a whirlwind of characters and scenarios. This book is a tribute to friendship as well as a lament for the tragic fate of a generation destroyed. Carlos Victoria was born in Camagüey, Cuba, in 1950.. In 1965, he won the prize for short stories sponsored by the El caimán barbudo magazine foundation. In 1971, he was expelled for "ideological deviation" from the University of Havana, where he was taking courses in English Language and Literature. In 1976, he was arrested by the Cuban government and all his manuscripts were confiscated. In 1980, he left the island by the Mariel Boatlift and since then his stories have appeared in anthologies and literary magazines in the United States, France and Latin America. In 1985, one of his stories was included in the annual selection of Le Monde (France). In 1992, Ediciones Universal published his book of stories Las sombras en la playa.. His novel, Puente en la oscuridad, won the Letras de Oro prize in 1993. Victoria worked as an editor in The Miami Herald and was awarded the prestigious Cintas Scholarship. His other books include: La ruta del mago (novel / 1997), El resbaloso y otros cuentos (1997) and El salón del ciego (stories and novelettes / 2004). He died in Miami on October 12, 2007.