Seas outside the reef

The beautiful, mysterious Emily De Soto returns to Key West, where, as a child, she visited her grandparents. She's an adult now, married to a Cuban political philosopher she hasn't seen in 14 years. That's why she's in Key West: to help smuggle her husband, Raul, into the United States.

But while she's waiting for Raul, Emily falls in love with an apolitical sailor named Harry. When Raul arrives, Emily must choose between the man who fought alongside Fidel and now wants out, and her stormy new lover with a fragile heart. Before the novel ends, one man will claim Emily's loyalty, and the other will die.

As the plot thickens, so do the skies. The weather gets stormy, and the sea churns as dangerously as the hearts of the protagonists. In a classical counterpoint, a slut named Wanda wanders the streets of Key West, peddling pornographic poems themed to the action on the novel.