The passions and rivalries of one of the most remarkable families ever created in fiction ignite this brilliant broad-canvas novel from the first page to the last. Set in Miami, Washington, and Havana, Destinies is the story of the Cartas, an extremely accomplished, wealthy and powerful family of both American and Cuban heritage. Forced into exile in the United States, the Cartas each play a critical role in the emotioal aftermath of the Cuban Revolution. As the action unfolds, one of the major upheavals of our time is brought into stunning focus in all its complexity and surprising detail. As the Cartas are swept into the maelstrom of intrigue leading to the disastrous Bay of Pigs, their individual destinies become locked on a murderous collision course. Gustavo Carta, the strong willed patriarch and leader of the liberal Cuban exile faction in Miami, finds himself caught in a tightening vise between extremists to the right and left. Camillo, his son, who feels a fierce allegiance to Castro, becomes obsessed with his father's assassination as the key to Castro's survival. Elizabeth Danforth Carta, Camillo's mother, scion of a wealthy Southern family with strong ties to the Kennedys. swings the delicate emotional balance that controls her headstrong family and ultimately is forced to mediate between father and so- with deadly precision. David, Elizabeth's scholarly son and Gustavo's stepson, is drawn reluctantly into his half brother's battle plan and barely escapes with his own life. Through the story of the Cartas and of those men and women who weave into and out of their lives, we view the fascinating events building towards the CIA's cataclysmic invasion, the conflict and confusion of the early days of the Kennedy Administration, the frantic maneuvering of a big business and the Mafia in Latin America. Above all, we witness the tragic unraveling of a richly sympathetic family whose background- told through flashbacks- reveals a colorful mosaic of Cuba's people and brutal history.