Political repression was what led Mirta Ojito’s family and many others to emigrate from Cuba, and it is this memoir’s most overt and important theme. Ojito provides a detailed account of Fidel Castro’s failed promises of democracy, Cuba’s lack of basic freedoms, its state-sponsored surveillance culture, the ideological indoctrination of schoolchildren, and the violence with which the Castro regime silenced its dissidents.

Pre-revolutionary Cuba was characterized by deep inequalities and the exploitation of Cuban land, labor, and resources for the financial gain of the (mostly foreign-born) elite classes. Castro and his army were responding to a pronounced need for change, and the revolution enjoyed widespread support on the island. One of Castro’s central claims during the years leading up to his takeover was that he would deliver a free, equal, and democratic Cuba to its people. His post-revolution turn away from democracy and toward authoritarianism thus came as a shock to many Cubans. Some still supported him, while others, like Ojito’s parents, felt betrayed. Castro had indeed tipped the balance of power, but he’d consolidated power within his inner circle rather than giving it back to the people in the form of a democratic government and free elections.

What followed was a series of crackdowns that dissidents found unbearable.