RUINS


Usnavy has always been a true believer.

When the Cuban Revolution triumphed in 1959, he was just a young man

and eagerly signed on for all of its promises. But as the years have

passed, the sacrifices have outweighed the glories and he’s become

increasingly isolated in his revolutionary zeal. His friends openly mock

him, his wife dreams of owning a car totally outside their reach, and

his beloved fourteen-year-old daughter haunts the coast of Havana,

staring north.

In the summer of 1994, a few years after the collapse of

the Soviet Union,

more …

Usnavy has always been a true believer.

When the Cuban Revolution triumphed in 1959, he was just a young man

and eagerly signed on for all of its promises. But as the years have

passed, the sacrifices have outweighed the glories and he’s become

increasingly isolated in his revolutionary zeal. His friends openly mock

him, his wife dreams of owning a car totally outside their reach, and

his beloved fourteen-year-old daughter haunts the coast of Havana,

staring north.

In the summer of 1994, a few years after the collapse of

the Soviet Union, the government allows Cubans to leave at will and on

whatever will float. More than 100,000 flee–including Usnavy’s best

friend. Things seem to brighten when he stumbles across what may or may

not be a priceless Tiffany lamp that reveals a lost family secret and

fuels his long repressed feelings . . . But now Usnavy is faced with a

choice between love for his family and the Revolution that has shaped

his entire life.

less …
  • Akashic Books
  • Paperback
  • March 2009
  • 9781933354699

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About Achy Obejas

Achy Obejas is the author of various books, including the award-winning novel Days of Awe and the best-selling poetry chapbook This Is What Happened in Our Other Life. She was the editor of Akashic Books’ critically acclaimed crime fiction anthology Havana Noir, and the translator (into Spanish) for Junot Daz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Currently, she is the Sor Juana Writer in Residence at DePaul University in Chicago. She was born in Havana and continues to spend extended time there.