Goodbye, My Havana

This graphic memoir of growing up queer in Revolutionary Cuba “is both historically important and utterly engaging” (Justin Hall, editor of No Straight Lines).

Through evocative illustration and honest prose, Anna Veltfort tells a candidly personal story set against a backdrop of world-changing events during the headiest years of the Cuban Revolution. Goodbye, My Havana follows sixteen-year-old Connie as her relatively privileged life among anti-imperialist expatriates turns to progressive disillusionment and heartbreak.

The consolidation of Castro’s position brings violence, cruelty, and betrayal to Connie's doorstep. And the crackdown that ultimately forces her family and others to flee for their lives includes homosexuals among its targets. Connie’s coming-of-age story is one also about the dangers of coming out. With clarity and tenderness, Veltfort looks back at her alter ego and a forgotten era. She takes leave of the past even as she brings neglected moments of the Cold War into the present.