{"id":1330,"date":"2026-06-04T10:02:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:02:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:02:17","slug":"bolero-an-attorneys-quest-for-truth-and-identity-in-miami-and-cuba-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>When Raquel Puig Zaldivar was sent to meet a federal prison inmate while working as a freelance attorney in the 1990s, it unexpectedly reignited her love for writing.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1329\">A record of immigration arrests follows Castillo from Miami Springs to Doral<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The encounter inspired \u201cBolero<i>,\u201d <\/i>her first novel to be published in almost 30 years.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The story follows fictional Miami attorney Natalia Armand as she searches for answers after a fire and explosion at one of her client\u2019s properties. The townhome was rented by Alberto Maciel, a Cuban chemical engineer accused of conspiracy to traffic drugs and who is loosely based on the inmate whom Puig Zaldivar interviewed.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In the novel, Maciel, who started his career in Nicaro, Cuba, the island nation\u2019s most significant nickel-mining town, is the lead witness against a cartel kingpin.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>While investigating Maciel\u2019s death for her client, Armand is caught up in a dangerous conspiracy \u2014 one that might be connected to her own past.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>While writing the story and developing her characters, Puig Zaldivar couldn\u2019t simply imagine the places that she mentioned. Her research took her to Cuba for the first time since her family left the island when she was 10 years old. She retraced her characters\u2019 steps, from Miami to Nicaro.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had never thought that I would go to Cuba again\/ &#8230; I was so ready to do what \u2018Bolero\u2019 required, that I just went all in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Puig Zaldivar recently sat down with WLRN to discuss the process behind her new novel.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><i>This story has been edited for brevity and clarity.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><b>WLRN: What inspired you to write this story?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><b>Puig Zaldivar:<\/b> There were two things that were happening. One was my personal life. I was kind of in emotional paralysis.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>I couldn\u2019t write. And then the story of Maciel came around, and his story intrigued me tremendously. I think it came at the right time, and writing \u201cBolero\u201d got me out of [that] emotional paralysis.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1327\">How a tiny police force in Miami-Dade posted big immigration arrest numbers<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><b>You mentioned Alberto Maciel, or rather the person who inspired Maciel\u2019s character in your book. How did you meet?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>I met Maciel in 1995 at the federal prison. I was asked by my then-supervisor to go and interview him. I just needed to know the facts about his case to report back &#8230;, but the facts and his attitude towards his case were the things that intrigued me.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>So I went back, and for a whole month I went almost every day. He had no problems with my interviewing not only him, but everyone in his life whom he mentioned. And I interviewed all these women that were in his life, thinking that they were going to tell me horrors about Maciel because his life was not necessarily very honorable with all of them.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>But all of them were just as fascinated with him as I was when I first met him.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><b>I would say that Miami and Cuba play key roles in this story, almost like they\u2019re characters, too. You mention locations like Versailles, Cafe Nostalgia, the Nicaro Nickel Factory. How important was it for you to incorporate these places into the novel?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>I think this is a Miami story. One of the main characters is Cuban.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>You know, it\u2019s very difficult for a Cuban to get rid of his or her Cubanness. It\u2019s there. It somehow comes in. When Maciel mentioned Nicaro, I had no idea what Nicaro was, and I started asking around, \u201cWhere\u2019s Nicaro?\u201d I looked at the map. I said, \u201cOh my God.\u201d I was born in Cuba, but I left when I was little, and I never left Havana.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>So this was a mystery to me. And I, when I began writing this section where Nicaro became a character, I said, \u201cMy goodness, how do I do this?\u201d A friend of mine showed me pictures. I said, \u201cNo, no, no, but pictures are not enough.\u201d And I had never thought that I would go to Cuba again, but I said, \u201cWell, yeah, why not?\u201d I was so ready to do what \u201cBolero\u201d required, that I just went all in.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>I stayed at people\u2019s houses, which was amazing because I understood the problem of these people, the suffering and how they face it with such a positive attitude \u2026 that it\u2019s incredible. I loved going to Cuba on that trip. That part of the book was very gratifying.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><b>What do you hope readers take away from reading \u201cBolero\u201d?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>When I read \u201cBolero\u201d for the 10th or 13th time, I asked myself that question. I think it\u2019s [to] seize the moment. There are moments in your life in which you are given a choice. You either grab them and take them, or you let them go and, and make nothing of them.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>And all of these characters, especially Natalia, seized the moment. She saw there the opportunity to find out the truth, and she went with it, even though it was not to her benefit because she suffered a lot. She grieved, she went through many emotions.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1325\">\u2018Not a selfie prop\u2019: Animal advocates protest sloth attraction in Broward<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>If you go<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>What:<\/b> \u201cBolero,\u201d An Evening with Raquel Puig Zald\u00edvar<\/li>\n<li><b>When:<\/b> Saturday, June 6, 2026, 6 p.m.<\/li>\n<li><b>Where:<\/b> Books and Books Coral Gables, 265 Aragon Ave.<\/li>\n<li><b>More information: <\/b>Click here<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><i>This report was produced by Miami Herald news partner WLRN Public Media.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cBolero\u201d traces a Miami lawyer\u2019s investigation into a client\u2019s death, blending Cuban roots, research and personal discovery in Raquel Puig Zaldivar\u2019s novel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba - Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cBolero\u201d traces a Miami lawyer\u2019s investigation into a client\u2019s death, blending Cuban roots, research and personal discovery in Raquel Puig Zaldivar\u2019s novel.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-04T10:02:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T10:02:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330\"},\"wordCount\":924,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/49273ad33c2d23d24723cc529282e845.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Books\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330\",\"name\":\"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba - Florida Moving Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/49273ad33c2d23d24723cc529282e845.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T10:02:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/49273ad33c2d23d24723cc529282e845.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/49273ad33c2d23d24723cc529282e845.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1330#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Florida Moving Chronicle\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba - Florida Moving Chronicle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba - Florida Moving Chronicle","og_description":"\u201cBolero\u201d traces a Miami lawyer\u2019s investigation into a client\u2019s death, blending Cuban roots, research and personal discovery in Raquel Puig Zaldivar\u2019s novel.","og_url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330","og_site_name":"Florida Moving Chronicle","article_published_time":"2026-06-04T10:02:17+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f"},"headline":"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba","datePublished":"2026-06-04T10:02:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330"},"wordCount":924,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/49273ad33c2d23d24723cc529282e845.jpg","articleSection":["Books"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330","url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330","name":"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba - Florida Moving Chronicle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/49273ad33c2d23d24723cc529282e845.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-04T10:02:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/49273ad33c2d23d24723cc529282e845.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/49273ad33c2d23d24723cc529282e845.jpg","width":1200,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1330#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Bolero.\u2019 An attorney\u2019s quest for truth and identity in Miami and Cuba"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/","name":"Florida Moving Chronicle","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com"],"url":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}