Recently, La Americana: A Memoir (Skyhorse Publishing 2016), written by local author Melanie Bowden Simón, took the #4 spot on Amazon's Best Sellers in Arts & Literature Biographies and placed #13 in the Memoir category. The book was also designated the #1 Kindle Best Seller in the Memoir category, as well as the #1 Amazon Best Seller in Travel to Cuba and History of Cuba sections.

La Americana is the story of Bowden Simón, who, at the age of 25, quit her job at Tina Brown’s Talk magazine following the death of her mother and took a trip to Havana, Cuba, with a friend. Little did she know that she would meet and fall in love with a Cuban man and dive headlong into a culture defined by beauty, humor and grace within the unnerving realities of communism.

NPR deemed La Americana "a romance, an adventure tale and a raw depiction of loss that transcends place and time…The fact that this story is set in Cuba, though, makes for a fascinating and important read at this pivotal moment in U.S.-Cuba relations.”

Publishers Weekly called Bowden Simón’s memoir “beautifully rendered…an evocative valentine to her mother, Cuba and the power of love in the unlikeliest of places to heal a broken heart and spirit.” Bustle also included it on its list of "16 Nonfiction Books from July 2016 You Need to Read as Soon as Possible."

Named a 2016 '35 Over 35' Debut Author, Bowden Simón also appeared in “35 Over 35 Honors Authors Who Found Success Later In Life: Because not all prodigies are children,” in the The Huffington Post in Jan. 2017.

Melanie Bowden Simón is a freelance writer and the public relations manager at Armstrong State University in Savannah, Ga., where she lives with her husband and three children.