An Evening with Ana Hebra Flaster

Explore a poignant journey from revolutionary Cuba to small-town America through the eyes of a writer who lived this transformative experience firsthand. An Evening with Ana Hebra Flaster takes place on Saturday, June 28 at Books & Books, where the author will discuss her memoir Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town.

The memoir chronicles Hebra Flaster's family's transition from being supporters of the Cuban Revolution to becoming refugees in New Hampshire. At just six years old, the author and her working-class family were forced to flee Havana after opposing the Castro government's increasingly repressive policies, experiencing the losses of home, country and loved ones within a mere 48 hours.

Her book weaves significant events in Cuba-U.S. history with personal family stories, highlighting how her elders navigated political upheaval and the challenges of building new lives in a foreign land. The narrative particularly celebrates the resilience of the women who led the family out of Cuba and shaped their identity as Cuban Americans.

Richard Blanco, the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Poet, has praised the work as "a classic story about displacement, resilience and triumph" that offers "fresh perspectives and a deeper understanding of the intersectional meanings of home, country and family."

Hebra Flaster, whose writing on Cuba and the Cuban American experience has appeared in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, has also shared stories on NPR and PBS's Stories from the Stage. After nearly four decades in the Boston area, she recently returned to southern New Hampshire.

The event is presented by Books & Books and the Books & Books Literary Foundation with free admission. Copies of the memoir will be available for purchase.