This article charts the similarities between the first short story appearance in 1839 of what later became Cirilo Villaverde’s well-known nineteenth-century novel, Cecilia Valdés (1882), and Anselmo Suárez y Romero’s “Carlota Valdés” (1838). The study considers the circle of influence in Cuba for writers during this time period, focusing on the space of Domingo del Monte’s famed tertulia (the literary gathering in which the esclavo-poeta Juan Francisco Manzano was encouraged to finish his autobiography). Some of the questions the present study seeks to answer are: How can one assess the realm of influence surrounding literary gatherings such as del Monte’s tertulia? How do both Villaverde’s and Suárez y Romero’s short stories relate to Cuba’s nascent nationalism in the nineteenth century?