Iris M. Díaz creates a vivid sense of time and place through childhood memories of pre- and post-Castro Cuba. The injustice of a caste system is the central theme that weaves together these 42 coming-of-age short stories. A unique perspective of a place that is much in the news today.
- Jean Crossman Gilman, Freelance Writer and Editor
Memories of injustice in pre-Castro Cuba are untouched by America- nization and still haunt a young Cuban woman. Forced into exile and unable to speak for her abandoned and extended family, she now cries out to others to remember the truth.
- Lynn Hill, Writer and Editor
Iris Díaz takes us back to her childhood days in 1950's and 1960's Cuba, where we can hear the sounds of Batista’s and Castro’s executions of trial-less political prisoners up against the wall. Even among family and neighbors sharing a “cafe con leche,” one is never sure who is a spying informant for Castro's socialist government. Standing in long lines for eggs, milk or flour becomes commonplace. It is a poignant story of a young Cuban girl's strict Catholic upbringing in a family who flees their Cuban homeland to make a new life in America.
- Carole Fletcher, Author, Healed By Horses, Trickonometry and Advanced Trickonometry
Her past was something she didn’t want to remember but she couldn’t get rid of the memories. Now, she bares her mind, heart and soul to all in Cuba: Another Side of the Story.
Díaz’s memoirs are divided into three parts: life before Castro, life under Castro, and life in exile. It was her maids who helped her understand how someone like Fidel Castro, and others like him, can possibly rise to power. This is their story—and hers. It’s not a research study of Cuban maids, family, religion, or politics, but a story of her life and the life of her maids who allowed her to enter their world—a world that many don’t dare to acknowledge.