The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to CubaBy Margarita Engle
Henry Holt and Compay, 2010. 151 pgs. Young Adult
The Firefly Letters draws on little-known Cuban history to tell a stirring story in poetry. Based on the diaries and letters of Swedish suffragist Fredrika Bremer, who spent three months in Cuba in 1851, the story focuses on the privileged as well as the enslaved.
This historical novel told in verse follows three characters. Fredrika is anxious to explore Cuba, which she at first believes is paradise before she really gets to know the struggles Cubans have in their daily lives. Cecilia is an African slave who translates for Fredrika. She was sold into slavery by her father and is now married to another slave and pregnant with her first child. Elena is the daughter of the wealthy family that Fredrika is boarding with. She wants nothing more than the freedom to leave her home and explore the world.
This was a fast, yet poignant read!
AMM
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