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Somewhere between Matanzas and Miami, Fabiola Santiago fell in love with Paris. Santiago combines her passion for the romantic city by the Seine with her personal insights into the Cuban culture of Miami. The result, “Reclaiming Paris,” is an excellent first novel, rich with characterization and detail. The central character is Marisol, whose life journey is delineated by a series of unfulfilled relationships and a longing for something that seems beyond her reach.

Despite the title, the main focus of “Reclaiming Paris” is Cuban Miami, and it is an excellent book for both Cubans searching for connections to their roots and non-Cubans wanting a taste of this rich Latin culture.

“I've heard from some readers living in Des Moines, Seattle, and Texas who've written through the website to say they didn't understand why Cubans hung on to their heritage so much until they read this novel and cried and laughed with the characters,” Santiago says.

Full of steamy passion and sweet nostalgia, “Reclaiming Paris” is a great read!

"Reclaiming Paris"

A new novel by Fabiola Santiago

In the small community of Hialeah, just to the north of Miami, aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner James Bright built the racetrack to beat all racetracks: “Hialeah Park,” a French château style palace surrounded by beautiful landscaped grounds with rows of stately Royal palm trees. A lake in the middle of the racetrack became famous for a huge flock of pink flamingoes the developers imported from Cuba.

In its heyday, all of the great horses raced here. Jockeys Eddie Arcaro and Willie Schumacher were frequent highlights on the daily racing card. At one time there was even an amusement park with a roller coaster and a dance hall.

Hialeah Park featured a Renaissance Revival clubhouse and beautiful landscaped gardens full of native plants and trees.

The last race at Hialeah was in May 2001. Since then the facility has fallen into disrepair. Ravaged by hurricane winds, the historic stables were razed in 2002. The park is locked in a battle between local preservationists and a plan to create a huge new residential and commercial development.

Until recently, you could still drive onto the grounds and take a peek at this fading gem. Today you have to content yourself with catching a glimpse or two while driving around the perimeter. There is still hope for Hialeah Park with a proposal to rehabilitate the facility and bring back winter horse racing.

Halsey Minor, the man behind CNET has indicated that he wants to buy the racetrack in hopes of reviving the sport of kings in Hialeah. There have been discussions back and forth, but as the year ended no agreement was in place.

Until something is resolved, the curious can get a pretty good look at Flamingo Lake (minus the famous pink flamingos) and the grandstand from the nearby Metrorail platform.

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