In this engrossing, two-part novel, which weaves together fact and
fiction, Yolanda Ortal-Miranda brings to center stage one of the
tragic but generally under-reported results of the Cuban
Revolution: the steady exodus by sea of thousands of Cubans,
desperate for freedom and at the breaking point in their ability to
tolerate the stifling tyranny of the Castro regime. The plot is
gripping, and the characters are colorful, fascinating and
endearing. Through them, we see the realities of life in
post-Revolution Cuba and the enduring quest to live where there is
freedom and respect for human rights. As the novel opens, the
reader is immediately transported to Cuba--a parallel, but third
world, universe just 90 miles from American shores. The year is
1970, and the story is true. Rafael, a determined young man, is
cutting cane at a People's Farm, hating every minute of the cruel,
obligatory servitude that has been thrust on him by the government.
After unsuccessful attempts to leave legally, he and his three
brothers decide to swim across the dangerous waters of Guantanamo
Bay, in the dark of night, to seek political asylum at the U.S.
Naval Base. Will they succeed? The characters of Part II are
fictional stereotypes of the following generation, whose
desperation to be free, no less than those who came before, gives
them the courage to defy nature and the Cuban government by
crossing the perilous, shark-infested Straits of Florida in
anything that will float. The reader will meet, and come to know, a
fascinating collage of desperate Cubans whose lives intersect in
the 1990s as they flee their homeland in an old fishing boat:
Amalia, a resolute university professor; Gustavo, an oceanographer
in love with Amalia; Pedro, a veteran fisherman and captain of the
boat; his wife, Aquilina, the devoted mother of their totally
disabled son, Santiago; and Maribel and Arturo, political
dissidents. When their boat capsizes, a "Brothers to the Rescue"
plane appears. Will the survivors be saved? The author's hope in
writing this novel is that its readers will emotionally connect
with the characters as their stories unfold, and that they will be
truly moved by the real and ongoing human tragedy that the book
exposes.
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