<p><b>‘Extraordinary . . . stunning’ </b>– <b>Elizabeth Macneal, author of <i>The Doll Factory</i></b><br><br> <b>‘Vivid details, visceral prose and strong willful women’ </b>– <b>Angie Cruz, author of <i>Dominicana</i></b><br><b><br> Five generations of women, linked by blood and circumstance, by the secrets they share, and by a single book passed down through a family, with an affirmation scrawled in its margins: We are force. We are more than we think we are.<br><br> </b>1866, Cuba: María Isabel is the only woman employed at a cigar factory, where each day the workers find strength in daily readings of Victor Hugo. But these are dangerous political times, and as María begins to see marriage and motherhood as her only options, the sounds of war are approaching.<br><br> 1959, Cuba: Dolores watches her hu
