This is the the tragic story of a divided country under a dictator's fierce regime where family members have to make heartrending decisions to separate from each other.

With the initiation of a regime that was supposed to free the Cubans but failed miserably to do so, families separated for reasons of political oppression, economical circumstances, or the fear for their lives. This in turn led to the Cubans' different and complicated ways of looking at the events in their lives and those of their compatriots.

Of the three people whose lives are brought to view, the story of Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo is the most political. Eloy fought together with Castro and many other men to bring freedom to his people from the Batista’s corrupt regime. When the revolution succeeded and Castro became the new tyrant, Eloy turned against the new government and Castro turned against Eloy. Barely avoiding execution, Eloy spent twenty years in prison. When he came to Miami after being released in 1986, Eloy had mellowed. He thought a dialogue with Castro could be possible. Later on, he could not live away from his fatherland, and he moved back to Cuba.

Paquito D'Rivera was very young when Castro took over Cuba. He had some freedom later on as a musician but not enough opportunities for the achievement he desired as a jazz saxophonist. He defected, leaving his family behind. It took many years for him to see his family again.

Nancy Lledes Espinoza, a chemical engineer, was born in 1962, three years after Castro’s revolution. She grew up believing in Castro and his regime. After she fell in love and got married, however, she and her husband started seeing things differently. Eventually, Nancy and her husband defected, although separately, putting their lives in danger and leaving their families behind. Nancy’s mother was and still is a staunch defender of Castro.

gaining insight into the history and politics of Cuba, but even more than that, learning to empathize with the tragic human story of the Cubans whose families split apart due to idiotic ideologies.

the empathy of the writer to his subject, his masterful narrative, and very effective use of the language.

close to the suffering of all Cubans no matter what their ideology may be.

Ian Michael James, a graduate of Duke and Stanford universities, is a correspondent for The Associated Press and currently their bureau chief in Venezuela, according to the biography given on the inside cover of the book.

It is written with deep historical and political insight, highlighting the trauma of the Cubans. In addition, it is an exemplary piece of journalistic achievement, and it reads like a suspense story, capturing the reader from its beginning to its end.

After an the ink-drawn map of Cuba in its beginning and a preface by the author, the book holds sixteen chapters, in which the lives of these three people are told, not one by one in three sections but all at the same time within each chapter, interlinked through the chronology of the events.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Ninety Miles: Cuban Journeys in the Age of Castro   from Amazon.Com!

Created Jun 28, 2008 at 10:25pm • Submit your own review...