When We Left Cuba

When We Left Cuba is a work of historical women’s fiction written by Cuban American author Chanel Cleeton. Beatriz, one of the daughters of the Perez sugar baron family who fled the Cuban Revolution in When We Left Havana (2018), is restless in her exile in Palm Beach, Florida, and agrees to work for the CIA in hopes of bringing down Fidel Castro and avenging the death of her brother. Conflicting with her life as a spy and her commitment to freeing Cuba is her romantic relationship with a US senator. As troubles between the US and Cuba intensify, Beatriz must decide which of her passions to follow. When We Left Cuba was a New York Times bestseller and was followed by other novels featuring female members of the Perez family, including Our Last Days in Barcelona (2022).

This guide refers to the trade paperback edition published by Berkley in 2019.

Plot Summary

In a prologue taking place on November 26, 2016, an older woman receives a delivery of a bottle of champagne. In the first chapter, set in January 1960, Beatriz Perez turns down a proposal of marriage made to her at a party in Palm Beach. One of the spectators, handsome politician Nicholas Preston, approaches Beatriz and invites her to dance. Though she is attracted to him, he is engaged to a local debutante.

Beatriz uses the cover of the party to meet with Dwyer, a CIA agent considering hiring Beatriz to assassinate Fidel Castro. Not only did the Perez family flee Cuba a year earlier to escape Castro’s new control of the country, but Beatriz also believes Castro was behind the murder of her twin brother, Alejandro. While her mother is trying to get Beatriz and her older sister Isabel to marry well, as their sister Elisa has done, Beatriz does not feel that domestic life is for her.

Beatriz continues to run into Nick at Palm Beach parties and tries to ignore her attraction to him as she waits for word from Dwyer. Eduardo Diaz, her brother’s best friend and the one who connected her with Dwyer, is also involved in activities he won’t fully divulge. When he brings her along one night to receive a shipment, Beatriz discovers he is picking up a load of dynamite.

Her family and Nick warn her not to get involved with the CIA, but Beatriz has always been independent and willing to take risks. Even Eduardo warns her to be wary, but he and Beatriz share a dream about returning to Cuba one day and dancing at the Tropicana.

Dwyer sends Beatriz to New York City to catch Castro’s eye during a visit to the US. She dresses up and manages to gain Castro’s attention, but she is rattled by the meeting and retreats to her hotel, where she runs into Nick. They spend the night together, and Beatriz confides in Nick about Alejandro’s death and her desire to avenge him. She also tells him she has no desire to be a mistress. She returns to Palm Beach, where Dwyer has asked her to infiltrate a pro-Castro student group that meets in Hialeah. Beatriz does not think the American students are a threat, but she is curious about the two Cuban brothers in the group, Javier and Sergio.

The social season in Palm Beach picks up when President-Elect Kennedy and his family come to town. Nick returns and shows Beatriz the house he bought on the beach. It becomes the place where they can spend private time together. Beatriz continues to attend meetings of the communist group and endures disapproval from her family, who feel her affair with Nick reflects badly on them.

In the meantime, the US seems to be preparing for an invasion of Cuba. When Beatriz attends a party with Eduardo, she sees Nick there with his fiancée, who warns Beatriz to keep her relationship with Nick quiet. Beatriz finally breaks up with Nick. He informs her that the Bay of Pigs invasion failed and a thousand Cubans, including Eduardo, are being held prisoner by Castro.

Her mother is furious about Beatriz’s affair and insists Beatriz go visit a family member in Spain. Instead, Dwyer sends Beatriz to London to investigate whether a Cuban exile, Ramon, was involved in the death of one of Dwyer’s spies. Beatriz establishes a new life in London, gathering intelligence for Dwyer and attempting to get close to Ramon. At a party where Beatriz is supposed to receive information from a Soviet spy, she runs into both Ramon and Nick, who is no longer engaged. After procuring the microfilm, Beatriz goes with Nick to his hotel and they resume their relationship.

The next day, Ramon is waiting for Beatriz at her apartment. He threatens her with a gun and demands the microfilm. As they struggle, Beatriz shoots Ramon. Frightened, she flees to Nick and learns that the US has discovered Soviet missiles stationed in Cuba. Beatriz accompanies Nick back to Washington, DC, and stays with him during tense days when it seems nuclear war might be imminent.

The missile crisis ends in a détente, but Dwyer approaches Beatriz and says the CIA is ready to send her into Cuba. Beatriz now feels torn, as she is building a new life in the US, but she agrees to go. Nick doesn’t approve; he wants to protect Beatriz, and she wishes he would treat her as an equal.

The Bay of Pigs prisoners are released, and Beatriz meets Eduardo. Thinner, and bitter that the US let the invasion fail, he confesses that he is in love with Beatriz. While Nick is away on a trip to Dallas with the president, Beatriz receives her instructions about going to Cuba. Then, she learns President Kennedy has been shot and killed. Nick, when he returns home, is upset that Beatriz wants to go to Cuba and meet Castro. She tells him that a relationship between them is not possible; she can’t be the kind of wife he needs. They end their relationship, and Nick leaves.

Beatriz finds it strange to return to Cuba, and her meeting with Fidel Castro is a shock. Somehow he knew she was coming and is surrounded by security. Castro insists he had no part in Alejandro’s death, nor, he says, did he have anything to do with Kennedy’s assassination, and he wants Beatriz to take that message back to the American government. Feeling bewildered, Beatriz goes to her old family home and digs up a box of money and jewels her father hid before he left. A man with a gun approaches her, and Beatriz recognizes Javier from the Florida communist group. Javier reveals that Ramon was his cousin and he wants revenge. Eduardo, who followed Beatriz to the house, shoots Javier and saves her life.

The money she unearthed buys her passage back to Florida, but Beatriz must say goodbye to Eduardo, who is staying in Cuba. He admits he arranged her meeting with Castro in return for Castro ending his exile. Beatriz feels betrayed, but she realizes her life is in the US. She promises Eduardo they will dance one day at the Tropicana; then, she returns home to Florida.

In November 2016, the older Beatriz talks with Eduardo on the phone, then goes out with family and friends to celebrate Castro’s death. Nick is waiting on the veranda of her Palm Beach house when she returns. His wife recently died, and he has kept tabs on Beatriz during her long and eventful career spying for the CIA. They begin dating, and when Beatriz takes Nick to a family event, she feels optimistic about this new phase of her life.