After fleeing her homeland when communist revolutionaries kicked her family out of their home, Ana Hebra Flaster arrived in New Hampshire from Cuba in 1967 at the age of six. In her memoir PROPERTY OF THE REVOLUTION: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town, Flaster intertwines memories from her upbringing in the mostly white city they settled in with absorbing accounts of her parents’ lives in Cuba before their departure. As she and her family struggled to balance embracing the American lifestyle and preserving their Cuban culture, Flaster emerged from her childhood toiling over her splintered identity but resolved to claim a purposeful life.

The book’s voice is tender and amicable, inviting readers into Flaster’s home with intimate detail. She narrates the “hungry nights” soon after their arrival, when her cousin “made a competition out of who could take the tiniest bites out of [their] creations,” with a grace and humility that encapsulates the conflicting fear and optimism she felt at the time. Moments of humor balance scenes of stress to give full, rich life to her family—as when she caught her uncle mistakenly eating dry cat food from the box. After they discarded it and returned to their show, “without taking his eyes off the TV, [her uncle] said, ‘Meoww.’”

As the story moves through the decades, Flaster’s widening understanding of how her origin informs her place in the world expands the book’s message of empathy and resilience. She identifies a lifelong fear of house fires as a reflection of the loss of her Cuban home and separation from the family they left behind, offering poignant introspection: “If I listened for the rain, if I kept the curtains away from the radiators, if I looked for the light from the red flames, I might be able to save our house. … Stay awake. Be ready. Save our home. Worlds disappear at night.” Tension among her college classmates who adopt communist ideologies push her to deepen her understanding of herself and further honor her heritage when she finds they refuse to listen to her perspective in favor of their egocentric philosophical musings.

Alternating chapters offer stories told to her by the viejos, the elders, which provide context for life in Cuba. Flaster’s aunt smuggling into the US her college diploma cut up into pieces and sewn into her bra is particularly moving—capturing the woman’s determination, courage, and pride. Heartrending scenes like this reinforce the book’s deep appreciation for the women who hold families together and pass history from one generation to the next.

PROPERTY OF THE REVOLUTION is an eloquent, immersive ode to immigrant women’s strength and “the decades of incremental adjustments needed to create a new life in a new world.”

~Aimee Jodoin for IndieReader