The Empress of the Splendid Season by Hijuelos, Óscar - 1999

Toronto, On, Canada: Harpercollins Publishers Canada, Limited. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 1999. Second Printing. Hardcover, Cloth. This is the story of Lydia Espana, a beautiful and formerly prosperous emigre from pre-Castro Cuba, who becomes a cleaning lady in New York. She falls in love with Raul, a waiter. One night in a Manhattan ballroom, Raul proposes marriage, for Lydia is his "empress of the most beautiful and splendid season, which is love. " A life of promise is disrupted when Raul falls ill and Lydia, finding employment as a domestic, becomes the head of the family. Throughout this novel Lydia remains a sensual and powerful woman who meets the trials of a lonely llife with humor and a gleam of triumph in her eye - a sense that she is someone special - an empress of fortitude, of dignity. 342 pages, jacket not clipped. Remainder. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. .