Rachel Kushner's 'Telex from Cuba' takes readers back to the lush and perilous world of the American expatriate community in Cuba during the twilight of the Batista regime. Through the eyes of young Everly Lederer and K.C. Stites, we witness the sweet yet unsettling life within the United Fruit Company's sugar cane enclave. Beyond their idyllic gated community, Havana simmers with revolution, a city teetering on the precipice of monumental change. There, the lives of a French agitator and a cabaret dancer become entwined with covert political machinations, setting the stage for Fidel and Raúl Castro's fiery rebellion. As their insulated world implodes, the children eerily observe the dissolution of the adults' hedonistic existence, signaling the end of an era. 'Telex from Cuba' is an evocative debut novel, a vivid mosaic of innocence, betrayal, and the haunting legacy of imperialism.