An evocative and unforgettable memoir from award-winning journalist Carlos FrĂas about his journey to Cuba where he retraces his family's history and encounters the realities of Cuba under Fidel Castro's rule.
Carlos FrĂas, an award-winning journalist and the American-born son of Cuban exiles, grew up hearing about his parents' homeland only in parables. Their Cuba, the one they left behind four decades ago, was ethereal. It existed, for him, only in their anecdotes, and in the family that remained in Cubaâmerely ghosts on the other end of a telephone.
Until Fidel Castro fell ill.
Sent to Cuba by his newspaper as the country began closing to foreign journalists in August 2006, FrĂas begins the secret journey of a lifetimeâtwelve days in the land of his parents. That experience led to this evocative, spectacular, and unforgettable memoir.
Take Me With You is written through the unique eyes of a first-generation Cuban-American seeing the forbidden country of his ancestry for the first time. FrĂas provides a fresh view of Cuba, devoid of overt political commentary, focusing instead on the gritty, tangible lives of the people living in Castro's Cuba. FrĂas takes in the island nation of today and attempts to reconstruct what the past was like for his parents, retracing their footsteps, searching for his roots, and discovering his history. The story creates lasting and unexpected ripples within his family on both sides of the Florida Straitsâand on the author himself.