"Elderly persons are a treasure we squander in cajoleries and blandishments," laments Amin Maalouf as he explores the history of his Lebanese family without the benefit of the memories of the old aunts and cousins he had never thought to interrogate until it was too late. The unearthing of a great trunk of documents belonging to his grandfather, Botros, an eccentric poet, orator and teacher who lived on Mount Lebanon at the turn of the 19th century, sets him off on his journey of discovery in an attempt, among other things, to understand why some of his family left their villages-for America, Egypt, the Gulf-while others stayed on.rnIn particular he is intrigued by the family legend that in 1902 Botros undertook a mission to Cuba to rescue his brother, Gebrayel, who had migrated there in 1895 and was said to be in dire legal and financial trouble. Botros learnt Spanish on his 40-day outward journey and returned home triumphant, mission accomplished. Mr Maalouf, whose detective work takes him on many a gentle adventure in modern-day Havana, discovers the legend to be largely a fabrication. Gebrayel, far from being in distress, had prospered as a respected Havana shopkeeper.
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