Hotel Cuba by Aaron Hamburger

After the Great War in Europe there was continued turmoil, especially in Eastern Europe.  The Tsar fell, the Whites came, then the Reds, the Poles, and more. All that Jews in the shtetls knew was that life was dangerous for them. Getting out, however, was not easy. Isolationist throughout the world were closing the doors, especially to these Jews. When confronted with the choice to wait until something changed or board a boat to Cuba, Pearl and her sister Frieda go to Cuba.

The Jewish diaspora, however, seeks to help others and they were met at the boat and brought home to a Jewish organization that helped feed and house them until they found jobs. With Pearl’s skills as a seamstress, they were able to be placed with a Jewish couple that had a millenary shop.

While they are sisters, Pearl has been raising Frieda since she was responsible for her after their mother died in childbirth. Pearl also took over the tasks of her mother, making the home for the family, cooking for all her father, the cantor, would invite to shabbas. The responsibility for taking care of Frieda continued in Cuba, with Frieda dreaming of her fiancé in Detroit, and Pearl always being realistic about what work needed to get done.

Each sister has a role to play, as in any family. With the stress of trying to make it to America with the doors closing tighter every day, these become exacerbated. Pearl finally agrees to help get the money to pay for Frieda to be smuggled to the US. After this, Pearl is on her own for the first time. She works hard but misses her family. She pays to go to Key West, but is found and sent back. Through the people she meets there and those she meets back in Cuba when she is sent back, she learns to stand strong for herself and make her desires known.

A strong woman in that era is not looked upon nicely. Through her strength of character, she finds what she wants, asks for it, and to her surprise, she earns it.  The person who is most surprised is Pearl.

An interesting alternative to how to get into the US, and there is truth in the desperation of those trying to get out of Europe. While there are some easy guesses to make, I thought it was an enjoyable read.