Helen Berner, Mirta Perez, and Elizabeth Preston are three very different women yet all at crossroads in their lives. Writing about three heroines gave me an opportunity to immerse myself in distinct events and perspectives. When I started writing When We Left Cuba, I initially played with the idea of having a dual timeline story, but Beatriz’s personality and voice were so big that it really overshadowed any other character.įor The Last Train to Key West, Helen’s voice came to me first, but there were so many interesting intersections at that moment in history: the ease of travel between Cuba and the United States, the recent Cuban Revolution of 1933, Henry Flagler’s infamous Overseas Railroad, the powerful and deadly Labor Day hurricane, the Great Depression, and the recent end of Prohibition, that I knew I wanted to explore how women with different backgrounds would weather these events and what similarities and differences might exist between them.

With Next Year in Havana, it was a very personal story, inspired partly by my relationship with grandmother, so I knew I wanted it to be a dual timeline story and to have that multigenerational connection. The tone and format really dictated by the story for me. How do you decide to write in these various tones and formats? What do you think the changing viewpoint of your most recent release adds to the story? In Next Year in Havana there were dual timelines, When We Left Cuba was set entirely in the past from one point of view, and in THE LAST TRAIN TO KEY WEST there are three women’s stories set over Labor Day Weekend in Key West. I love the different formats you’ve used for setting the scene of the historical stories you’ve told so far. The Last Train to Key West follows three heroines as their paths cross in unexpected and dangerous ways, and readers of my earlier books will recognize a familiar last name as I follow Beatriz and Elisa’s aunt through history. My new book, The Last Train to Key West, is set decades earlier in 1935 when the Labor Day Hurricane struck the Florida Keys.

My first two historical fiction releases, Next Year in Havana and When We Left Cuba, were largely inspired by my Cuban heritage and my family’s love for their homeland. Thank you so much for having me! I write historical fiction that focuses on women’s stories throughout history.

Hi, Chanel! Welcome to Fresh Fiction! Please tell us about yourself and your new book, THE LAST TRAIN TO KEY WEST.

Chanelcleeton