Infinite Refuge

In this memoir, accomplished author Virgil Suarez draws his memories of his family and friends leaving Cuba and ties these through verse and prose to his experience of exile. He writes, Those old ghosts of places we knew, lived in moments we survived, those are the things I’m afraid of. But those old ghosts populate his stories: the shadows of his extended family standing on the other side of the glass at the departure gate in the airport, the next-door neighbor of his childhood with whom he plays firing squad, his mother’s last wish to return to Cuba, and his promise to his father not to return until a change comes to Cuba. Suarez’s poignant tales of family disintegration, culture shock and separation are only matched by his examples of people struggling for the strength to live their modest lives and to preserve their memories in the face of the challenges of the new society around them.