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, 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.