Living in the Tampa Bay area it was wonderful to visit and get insight into what life was like in the early days of Ybor City. The characters were brought to life with ease. Although it is a work of fiction, the research and headlines were all accurate and depicted a believable story line. I think that the character Pablo was intended to be the "main" character but Matilde stole the book and storyline.
But for me, what made this book exceptional was having the author present for the book club meeting. Dr Jack Fernandez and his lovely wife Sylvia graciously joined us for our discussion and lunch, then generously took us on a walking tour of Ybor City. What a wonderful day it was!