Palace of the White Skunks

Palace of the White Skunks
Author	Reinaldo Arenas
Country	Cuba
Language	Spanish
Genre	Novel
Publication date	1982

Last updated April 30, 2019

Published in 1982, Palace of the White Skunks is the second book of Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas' Pentagonia book series.

Reinaldo Arenas was a Cuban poet, novelist, and playwright known as an early sympathizer, and later critic of Fidel Castro and the 1959 revolution, and a rebel of the Cuban government.

The Pentagonia is the collective title of a series of five novels by Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas. It was subtitled by its author "the secret history of Cuba." The novels were written from the mid-1960s through the late 1980s, and indeed, as was recounted in Arenas' autobiography Before Night Falls, were rewritten many times as manuscripts were lost, destroyed and/or confiscated by Cuban authorities. Each of the novels is semi-autobiographical and indeed has Arenas as one, if not more than one, of the major characters.

Plot summary

The main character, Fortunato, wants to escape the throes of his sisters and parents by joining the revolutionaries vying to overthrow Batista's regime.

Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the elected President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and the U.S.-backed authoritarian ruler from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown during the Cuban Revolution. Batista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of the Sergeants, which overthrew the provisional government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada. He then appointed himself chief of the armed forces, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlled the five-member "pentarchy" that functioned as the collective head of state. He maintained this control through a string of puppet presidents until 1940, when he was himself elected President of Cuba on a populist platform. He then instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba and served until 1944. After finishing his term he lived in Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup against President Carlos Prío Socarrás that preempted the election.

Arenas seamlessly weaves in and out of the domestic voices that scream of the emotion and convention that young Fortunato wants to escape. Despite his courageous efforts, death remains outside in the backyard rolling the wheel of his bicycle.

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