“The Tilting House” is an affecting and sometimes amusing coming-of-age novel set in a country that few have had the opportunity to visit, despite its proximity to the U.S., says AP critic Anita Snow. Miami-based writer Ivonne Lamazares knows her homeland well and fills her story with description and historical detail that only a former Havana resident could provide. The story tells of a teenage orphan who lives with her religious aunt in a big, old house until they a visitor from the U.S. arrives. It’s a study of hidden family secrets, the unhealed wound of losing a mother and the quest for home.