The Maids of Havana

by Pedro Pérez Sarduy

Set in Cuba and Miami, from the 1940s to the present, two Afro-Cuban women narrate their life stories. One leaves a small town in the central part of the island to work as a maid in Havana in prerevolutionary Cuba. The other, her friend's daughter, educated in revolutionary Cuba, leaves Havana in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, to find work as a maid in Miami... A history full circle?

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2002

Reviews

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not impressed. Thought it'd be different than what it was.

[charlize]

aw my mentor just bought this for me at the conference

[Marigloria Sierra · Rating 2 out of 5]

El tema es interesante y el estilo me gustó, con todos los dicharachos cubanos. Sin embargo, la segunda mitad del libro deberia llamarse “Las aventuras de Gracielita en la Yuma” pq no tiene nada q ver con las vriafas de La Habana. También, tenia tres errores tipográficos y un error en el hecho q la ciudad de Richmond no está cerca de Washington DC, sino a 3 horas en carro.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. It is personal stories interwoven with history and politics.