Juanita: A Real Life Romance of Life in Cuba Fifty Years Ago by Mary Peabody Mann

I found this book intriguing, if rushed at the end. As usual with books set in the Caribbean, I was fascinated by all the languages at play in the story if not the text itself. I was interested in the religious references that were scattered throughout the book; these references became more definite and proselytizing towards the end. I was also intrigued by the trope of good masters being as ensnared in the system of slavery as the slaves themselves. Finally, I thought the position of Helen Wentworth, New England spinster, fascinating. This book might have been an important anti-slavery narrative (though it has its share of racial prejudices) had it been released more promptly (it was based on the author's stay in Cuba from 1833 to 1835 and apparently mostly drafted by the 1850s), but because it was published in 1888, it remains a bit of a historical footnote.