In the novel, Gabriela is a Cuban-American woman who places a coin she finds in her favorite bracelet. As I posted previously on the blog, everyone who is Cuban, or has Cuban relatives, knows and has worn bracelets made especially for them. I have one, my sister has one, my mother has one, and my grandmother, great-grandmother, and so on had one. Here is the bracelet that was part of the cover, my mother’s. And no Cuban bracelet is any good without the azabache, the onyx nugget on the right, which is traditionally worn to ward off the “evil” eye. The box next to the cameo is a relic keepsake box. It is usually used with saints’ relics or with images of them or of Christ.
