Anna in the Tropics 2003 - Articles Page 39.4

In this beguiling story set in a Cuban-American cigar factory in 1929 Florida, cigars are still rolled by hand and "lectors" are employed to educate and entertain the workers. The arrival of a new lector is a cause for celebration, but when he begins to read aloud from Anna Karenina, he unwittingly becomes a catalyst in the lives of his avid listeners, for whom Tolstoy, the tropics and the American dream prove a volatile combination.