The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera: A Novel - Softcover

Fraxedas, J. Joaquin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312110227 ISBN 13: 9780312110222

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 1994

Synopsis

In the middle of a moonless night on a deserted beach east of Havana three men lash inner tubes together to make a flimsy raft they slide into the surf. Desperate to escape a society gone wrong, they risk an incredible journey across the more than ninety miles of treacherous waters that separate the island of Cuba from the Florida Keys.

In this powerful and lyrical novel, J. Joaquin Fraxedas has crafted an epic story of three courageous men, men willing to endure the hazards of the open sea, men caught in the mindless violence of a hurricane with nothing to hang on to but an inner tube, men willing to die in their attempt to gain freedom.

Superbly written, The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera is profoundly moving tribute to one of the great tragedies of our time.

About this title

About the Author

A graduate of the University of Florida College of Law, J. Joaquín Fraxedas first established a distinguished career in civil trial practice, specializing in the trial of medical, products liability, and other complex cases, before concentrating exclusively on the practice of mediation and alternative dispute resolution. He lives in Florida. The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera is his first novel.

From Publishers Weekly

Three men flee Castro's Cuba in 1990 on a makeshift raft bound for Florida in this harrowing, taut yet lyrical first novel. Fraxedas, who escaped Communist Cuba at the age of 10 and now practices law in Orlando, has flown rescue missions to pick up Cuban raft people, and he puts his firsthand knowledge to good use. The protagonist, physics professor Juan Cabrera, watches helplessly as gunmen on a Cuban patrol boat fatally shoot one of his two companions; later, his other mate is devoured by a shark in a terrifyingly real scene. Other scenes introduce Juan's girlfriend Carmen, an artist who once worked for Castro's propaganda machine but recently defected to Miami, where we are introduced to an assortment of Cuban exiles aching with longing for their homeland. The main focus, however, is on Juan's inner struggle to overcome his massive guilt for decades of silent accommodating a tyrannical regime. Flashbacks graphically reenact the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, showing how CIA officiers' condescension toward Cuban recruits contributed to disaster. A Spanish-language edition, La Traversia Solitaria de Juan Cabrera ($18.95 *
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0312110227
• ISBN 13: 9780312110222
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 174