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Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of An American History comes a heartbreaking yet redemptive memoir about migration, separation, and the love of one family forcing its way through the fissures of history.
In 1963, four years after Fidel Castro came to power, Ada Ferrer’s mother made the agonizing decision to flee Cuba with her infant daughter, Ada, and to leave behind her nine-year-old son, Poly. That moment was but a ripple in a much larger story of a world historical revolution. Yet, in another more intimate family history, that choice was a crossroads, ultimately inseparable from who and what they all became.
In this beautiful memoir, Ferrer masterfully shifts between her roles as historian and family member, weaving a multigenerational tale that reaches into the past to understand the circumstances and choices that led to the present. We see key historical events through the eyes of the the grandmother who raised Poly after Ada’s departure, a Black woman born a year after the end of slavery in Cuba; Ada’s parents, forced to invent themselves anew in a foreign land; and two brothers left behind—Poly and another, once-secret brother named Juan José, both of whose lives were marked irrevocably by revolution and family separation. Moving between Cuba and the United States and then back again, the book unpacks the experience and emotion of migration, in the moment of separation and over the long-term, for those who left and those who stayed.
Using a treasure trove of letters written across the gulf of family separation and found after the death of Ada’s parents, as well as government documents acquired through Freedom of Information Act requests, Ferrer offers us a profound reflection on belonging, memory, and the lasting imprint of history.
In 1963, four years after Fidel Castro came to power, Ada Ferrer’s mother made the agonizing decision to flee Cuba with her infant daughter, Ada, and to leave behind her nine-year-old son, Poly. That moment was but a ripple in a much larger story of a world historical revolution. Yet, in another more intimate family history, that choice was a crossroads, ultimately inseparable from who and what they all became.
In this beautiful memoir, Ferrer masterfully shifts between her roles as historian and family member, weaving a multigenerational tale that reaches into the past to understand the circumstances and choices that led to the present. We see key historical events through the eyes of the the grandmother who raised Poly after Ada’s departure, a Black woman born a year after the end of slavery in Cuba; Ada’s parents, forced to invent themselves anew in a foreign land; and two brothers left behind—Poly and another, once-secret brother named Juan José, both of whose lives were marked irrevocably by revolution and family separation. Moving between Cuba and the United States and then back again, the book unpacks the experience and emotion of migration, in the moment of separation and over the long-term, for those who left and those who stayed.
Using a treasure trove of letters written across the gulf of family separation and found after the death of Ada’s parents, as well as government documents acquired through Freedom of Information Act requests, Ferrer offers us a profound reflection on belonging, memory, and the lasting imprint of history.
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Published May 19, 2026
About the author
Ada Ferrer
8 books226 followersAda Ferrer is Julius Silver Professor of History and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University, where she has taught since 1995. She is the author of Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868–1898, which won the 2000 Berkshire Book Prize for the best first book by a woman in any field of history, and Freedom’s Mirror: Cuba and Haiti in the Age of Revolution, which won the Frederick Douglass Prize from the Gilder Lehrman Center at Yale University, as well as multiple prizes from the American Historical Association. Born in Cuba and raised in the US, she has been traveling to and conducting research on the island regularly since 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Thank you to Scribner Books for the gifted ARC of Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter by Ada Ferrer.
This one hit in a quiet but heavy way. It’s not loud or dramatic in the typical sense, but the emotional weight just kind of… sits with you. The core of the story, that impossible choice between children, sets the tone for everything that follows, and honestly, it’s hard to shake.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ferrer weaves together history, memory, and identity in a way that feels really intimate, especially when the focus is on Poly. Those sections felt the most alive to me, like the emotional anchor of the whole memoir. There’s also this underlying tension of trying to piece together a past that isn’t fully accessible, which adds a layer of uncertainty that I actually found pretty compelling, even if it didn’t always land perfectly.
What I Loved
• The emotional core of the story, especially the impossible choice that drives everything
• Poly’s storyline, which felt the most vivid and engaging
• The exploration of identity between Cuba and the United States
• The way history and personal narrative were woven together
• The overall sense of humanity and compassion throughout
What Didn’t Work for Me
• Some sections felt more speculative, which made it harder to stay fully invested
• The narrative pacing dipped a bit when moving away from Poly’s perspective
• A few moments felt slightly distant, likely due to gaps in historical record
Overall, this felt like a thoughtful and layered memoir about family, separation, and the stories we inherit and try to understand. It’s one of those books that quietly lingers after you finish, especially in the questions it raises about truth, memory, and belonging.
This one hit in a quiet but heavy way. It’s not loud or dramatic in the typical sense, but the emotional weight just kind of… sits with you. The core of the story, that impossible choice between children, sets the tone for everything that follows, and honestly, it’s hard to shake.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ferrer weaves together history, memory, and identity in a way that feels really intimate, especially when the focus is on Poly. Those sections felt the most alive to me, like the emotional anchor of the whole memoir. There’s also this underlying tension of trying to piece together a past that isn’t fully accessible, which adds a layer of uncertainty that I actually found pretty compelling, even if it didn’t always land perfectly.
What I Loved
• The emotional core of the story, especially the impossible choice that drives everything
• Poly’s storyline, which felt the most vivid and engaging
• The exploration of identity between Cuba and the United States
• The way history and personal narrative were woven together
• The overall sense of humanity and compassion throughout
What Didn’t Work for Me
• Some sections felt more speculative, which made it harder to stay fully invested
• The narrative pacing dipped a bit when moving away from Poly’s perspective
• A few moments felt slightly distant, likely due to gaps in historical record
Overall, this felt like a thoughtful and layered memoir about family, separation, and the stories we inherit and try to understand. It’s one of those books that quietly lingers after you finish, especially in the questions it raises about truth, memory, and belonging.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
At the heart of Keeper of My Kin by Ada Ferrer is an impossible choice. Do you leave a child behind to save the other? In this case, the author's mother took her out of Cuba to live in America, but had to leave behind her son, Poly, whose father would not let the boy leave Cuba. Since the author had a different father who already left the island, Ferrer's mother had a choice to make. She left Cuba.
This kicks off Ferrer's memoir and, for good or bad, the real crux of the story relies on how Poly grows up and reunites with the family. The story is strongest with Poly at the center, although Ferrer also touches on other aspects of being Cuban in America while also having family back behind Castro's theoretical wall.
Ferrer won the Pulitzer Prize for her previous work on Cuban history, and there is not a letdown in this one. I will say that the seams of the story show at times. She is writing about people who she didn't know or doesn't have records for. These sections require some conjecture, and I did find myself less invested. However, Poly is never gone from the narrative long and the push and pulls of his story make this one a fascinating read.
(This book was provided as an advanced reader copy by NetGalley and Scribner Books.)
This kicks off Ferrer's memoir and, for good or bad, the real crux of the story relies on how Poly grows up and reunites with the family. The story is strongest with Poly at the center, although Ferrer also touches on other aspects of being Cuban in America while also having family back behind Castro's theoretical wall.
Ferrer won the Pulitzer Prize for her previous work on Cuban history, and there is not a letdown in this one. I will say that the seams of the story show at times. She is writing about people who she didn't know or doesn't have records for. These sections require some conjecture, and I did find myself less invested. However, Poly is never gone from the narrative long and the push and pulls of his story make this one a fascinating read.
(This book was provided as an advanced reader copy by NetGalley and Scribner Books.)
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This is a big story of a family separated in Cuba and the United States once Fidel Castro took power in 1959. Tensions have reduced enough to allow for some visitation, and Ferrer took advantage of that to dig further in the archives for traces of her family.
Apart from the obvious fleshing out of the immigrant story, there's the questions of what really happened in the past that is so important in telling this story. The immigration story may be several generations ago for a lot of Americans, but the stories of what really happened is universal.
Ferrer has told her family's story with loving honesty and is a timely reminder of their humanity.
Apart from the obvious fleshing out of the immigrant story, there's the questions of what really happened in the past that is so important in telling this story. The immigration story may be several generations ago for a lot of Americans, but the stories of what really happened is universal.
Ferrer has told her family's story with loving honesty and is a timely reminder of their humanity.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Keeper of My Kin is an intimate and searching memoir in which Pulitzer Prize winning author Ada Ferrer turns her historian’s eye inward, examining her own family’s Cuban story with honesty and tenderness. Rather than simply recounting the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution, Ferrer focuses on what lingers—fractured families, unanswered questions, and the quiet ache of separation that stretches across generations.
Through letters, memory, and historical context, she captures both the heartbreak of exile and the enduring pull of kinship. The result is a memoir that feels deeply personal yet widely resonant, especially in a country like the United States shaped by immigration and reinvention. Timely, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, Keeper of My Kin is a powerful reminder that history lives not only in archives, but in the bonds we struggle to preserve across borders.
Through letters, memory, and historical context, she captures both the heartbreak of exile and the enduring pull of kinship. The result is a memoir that feels deeply personal yet widely resonant, especially in a country like the United States shaped by immigration and reinvention. Timely, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, Keeper of My Kin is a powerful reminder that history lives not only in archives, but in the bonds we struggle to preserve across borders.
April 7, 2026
This book landed in my hands at a clothing swap and I’m so glad it did! Such a great read that many Latino immigrant families can relate to. I went to Cuba in 2012 on a journalism trip and I fell in love with the island and its people! Thanks for sharing your story. Much success for when it officially releases!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
From page one I was drawn into this amazing memoir that I belatedly realized was real life source material for this authors book Cuba: An American History. From the heartbreaking way her other left her older brother behind in Cuba, the letters detailing their long separation and the struggles in American and those in Cuba. It’s unforgettable!
May 26, 2026
Touching and masterfully written
This story of a Cuban family separated by the Revolution is
.full of pain and love. Both personal and universal,
many immigrants and exiles will recognise glimpses
s of their own lives. Kudos to the author!
This story of a Cuban family separated by the Revolution is
.full of pain and love. Both personal and universal,
many immigrants and exiles will recognise glimpses
s of their own lives. Kudos to the author!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Absolutely loved this one.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
KEEPER OF MY KIN - This sad and happy story about a mother and daughter leaving Cuba for the USA during the early years of Castro's reign. The sacrifices, the gains, the losses, and the costs to the family in both countries. Interesting. Intriguing. Heartbreaking and heartwarming. Source: Mark Galarrita of Simon & Schuster. Thank you, Mr. Galarrita. 5*
December 25, 2025
Keeper of My Kin is a deeply personal and powerful memoir that traces the author's family’s journey through migration and upheaval after the Cuban revolution.
Ferrer writes as a historian and a daughter seeking to make sense of her family’s past by using letters, archival documents, and personal memory to illuminate what it means to leave home, to be separated from loved ones, and to carry fragments of belonging across borders.
A good read for those interested in Cuban history, family stories, or the immigrant experience.
Ferrer writes as a historian and a daughter seeking to make sense of her family’s past by using letters, archival documents, and personal memory to illuminate what it means to leave home, to be separated from loved ones, and to carry fragments of belonging across borders.
A good read for those interested in Cuban history, family stories, or the immigrant experience.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews