Blog Tour Post; The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton

 

Publisher: Berkley

On Sale Date: September 30, 2025

Pages: 352

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

2024; Margo Reynolds is an American woman who lives and works in London. She is hired to source a historic book that was written hundred and twenty years ago by and authior named Eva Fuentes. When she goes on a search for it for her client, with the help of a friend who is local bookseller specialised in antique books, she finds out soon enough she is not the only one on the hunt for the book. A man seems to shadow her wherever she goes, and not much later, the booktore of her friend is rampaged and the bookseller found dead in the store by her, and also her own office gets destroyed. And soon Margo not only is in search of the book, but also who is behind all these incidents..

1900; Eva Fuentes is a teacher from Havana, Cuba. She is working on a novel, when she takes part in a cultural exchange program between Cuba and the USA, and she gets the chance to study at Harvard University during her time in Boston. She also meets a man there, and a secret love starts, but when she figures out the man's real intentions, her heart is shattered, and this changes her life, and the course of her novel forever.

In Havana in 1966, Pilar Castillo works as a librarian during the harsh regime of Fidel Castro. Her husband Enrique is imprisoned because his resistance against the regime. Pilar misses him terribly, and in her own way, she tries to resist the regime, but it gets more dangerous for her as she comes in the posession of the book by Eva Fuentes, and she must fight to protect her library and herself.

This is a beautiful and gripping story about three women  over different decades, who don't know each other, but whose lives  connect because of Eva's mysterious book. I found the story of Margo the most thrilling, as there was truly a sleuthing and mystery part that kept you wanting to know who was behind all the incidents while she was searching for the book of Eva Fuentes for her client. The stories of Pilar and Eva where very moving, and gave a good historical insight in the times the two women where living in. As a reader I kept wondering what it was that was in Eva's novel that was so daunting that people wanted to have it so bad and that could cause so many trouble. I found the style it was written in truly beautiful and breathtaking, and I absolutely loved the whole storyline and the three main characters. This new novel by Chanel Cleeton is truly a book that I recommend reading!