The latest novel I read was "The man who loved dogs", by Leonardo Padura. First of all, that's just the kind of literature I love: many levels of composition and analysis. The plot is complex because there are three main characters whose stories are intertwined: the writer himself, Leon Trotsky and his assassin. A Cuban, a Russia and a Spanish men.
I'll pick the first one for this comment. His story is fascinating to me because he was there, imprisoned in the Isle, trying to produce good (and universal) literature, frustrated by what was initially a promise of a better and more fulfilling future, fighting not to become a cynical, living the complexity that ideologies try to erase. He's there, watching destiny rather than being master of his will - just as the other two characters. And a universal truth comes by chance to him. He's confronted by information that had been fiercely hidden and that could be his chance to write the story of his life.