Lights Out: A Cuban Memoir of Betrayal and Survival

Dania was eleven the first time she meets a Judas Goat, a chivato. Likened to the goats that lead animals to the slaughter, the informants of communist Cuba would do anything to please the authorities. This one has his ear almost pressed against her neighbor’s door.

As an adult, Dania reflects on the chivato who terrified her. The incident sticks in her mind, and it isn’t the only danger she encounters under communist rule.

Suspicion and fear will follow.

Dania chronicles Fidel Castro’s rise to power and the truth behind the dictator. His fascination with Hitler, Mussolini, and other fascists lead to a totalitarian state of sorrow and pain.

At the same time, she shows a deep love and respect for the history and culture of Cuba.

Lights Out combines the childhood intimacy of Eire’s Waiting for Snow in Havana with the hard-hitting historical accuracy and relevance of Demick’s Nothing to Envy

Castro is determined to erase the past, but Lights Out is a monument to the Cuba before Castro.