Summary
Summary of Cecilia Valdés, or The Angel's Hill
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A hidden birth leaves lasting wounds
In Havana, a gentleman visits Josefa while her daughter Charo lies feverish with grief. Charo's newborn girl has been taken away, and she calls the visitor a thief and an executioner. He promises that she will see her child again.
The baby has passed through the Royal Foundling Home to receive the surname Valdés. Josefa has marked her shoulder with a blue crescent so she can be recognized. A respectable name begins with a separation whose pain and secrecy reach far beyond this room.
Key idea 2
Cecilia grows up in the streets
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Key idea 3
Desire follows the lines of color
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Key idea 4
The Gamboa fortune rests on exploitation
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Key idea 5
Leonardo keeps love in separate worlds
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Key idea 6
Jealousy brings buried pain into public
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Key idea 7
Isabel sees what wealth conceals
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Key idea 8
Josefa fears what Cecilia cannot know
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Key idea 9
Love carries the costs of secrecy
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
You will love this if you enjoy sweeping historical fiction, tangled families, forbidden romance, and vivid pictures of Caribbean city life, music, dress and the sugar world of old Cuba.
What this book is
In 1812 Havana, a baby girl is passed through a hatch at the Royal Foundling Home so she can carry a respectable name. Cirilo Villaverde, a Cuban writer who finished this novel in exile, follows her into a beautiful, restless youth. You get a crowded portrait of a slave society: its dances, drawing rooms and sugar mills, and the secret of birth that binds two families. First, a night of fever and guilt.
In this summary
- 1A baby sent through the foundling hatchFree
- 2A beautiful street girl grows up unguarded
- 3A dance where color and class collide
- 4The Gamboa house and the price of its wealth
- 5Havana shown from its tailor shops and ballrooms
- 6Jealousy, schemes and a fight in the dark
- 7Christmas at the sugar mill of La Tinaja
- 8A grandmother fears for two generations
- 9What the novel is really about, and how it is told
Key point 1 of 9
A baby sent through the foundling hatch
The novel opens at dusk in November 1812. A tall gentleman leaves a closed carriage on San Juan de Dios Alley in Havana and taps at a small house. A mulatto woman named Josefa lets him in and tells him that her young daughter Charo is dying of grief, because her newborn girl has been taken away.
In the back room, the feverish mother wakes in terror, sure that the Virgin is carrying her child to heaven. When she sees the stranger, she calls him a thief and an executioner. He does not defend himself. He takes her pulse like a doctor, orders broth and ether, and promises she will see her daughter tomorrow.
We learn that the baby went through the Royal Foundling Home so she could be baptized with the surname Valdés. Josefa tattooed a blue crescent on the child's shoulder so she could be found again. The man leaves muttering that he alone is to blame, and the whole book grows from this night.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
Why is the baby passed through the Royal Foundling Home?
Right. “In 1812 Havana, a baby girl is passed through a hatch at the Royal Foundling Home so she can carry a respectable name.”Not quite. “In 1812 Havana, a baby girl is passed through a hatch at the Royal Foundling Home so she can carry a respectable name.”
Why does Isabel begin to doubt her future with Leonardo?
Right. “She sees that slavery poisons even the kind, and that the man she may marry laughs at what hurts her.”Not quite. “She sees that slavery poisons even the kind, and that the man she may marry laughs at what hurts her.”
What stands between the central characters and the love they want?
Right. “Cecilia, Leonardo, Isabel and Pimienta each want love, but wealth, color and slavery stand between them.”Not quite. “Cecilia, Leonardo, Isabel and Pimienta each want love, but wealth, color and slavery stand between them.”
Who’s who
- Cecilia Valdés
- Cecilia is a beautiful young woman of mixed race whose bond with Leonardo challenges Havana's social rules.
- Leonardo Gamboa
- Leonardo is the spoiled son of a wealthy white family, drawn to Cecilia despite his parents' expectations.
- Cándido Gamboa
- Cándido is Leonardo's Spanish-born father, a merchant whose wealth and family standing depend partly on the slave trade.
- Rosa Gamboa
- Rosa is Leonardo's mother, managing a comfortable household and hoping her son will make a socially suitable marriage.
- Isabel Ilincheta
- Isabel is a young woman of good standing whom Leonardo's family considers a suitable match for their son.
- José Dolores Pimienta
- José Dolores Pimienta is a skilled man in Cecilia's circle, belonging to Havana's free community of color.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 192,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 12 h 50 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Cecilia Valdés, or The Angel's Hill
What is Cecilia Valdés about?
It follows Cecilia, a beautiful young woman of mixed race in 1830s Havana, and her love for Leonardo Gamboa, the son of a rich slave trader. Family secrets, class and slavery shape every step.
Is Cecilia Valdés based on a true story?
It is fiction, but the author says he drew many characters from real people and kept real names. Historical figures such as Captain General Vives and the officer Tondá also appear.
Who is Cecilia Valdés's father?
Cecilia does not know who her father is. A powerful white man arranges her baptism and support from the shadows.
What does the title The Angel's Hill mean?
The Angel's Hill is a rise in Havana with the church of the Holy Guardian Angel. Cecilia grows up in the neighborhood around it, and the church becomes the setting for key scenes.
What is the main message of Cecilia Valdés?
The book shows how slavery and racial prejudice poison love, family and conscience in Cuba. The author wants readers to see that society as it truly was and to question its cruelty.
