Relatos de una isla perdida (español)

A collection of nine short stories covering several generations of Cubans, that is centered around an old farmouse.

Relatos de una isla perdida begins in the 1880s with the story of Doña Remedios who must leave the city of Havana with her young children to live on the family farm in Camaguey, Cuba following the unexpected and untimely death of her husband. It is a tale of sadness, ingenuity and liberation that recounts the condition of women throughout time.

The ensuing stories cover the generations after Doña Remedios, and include encounters with diverse sprituality, societal traditions, natural disasters and revolution. It is a history of the island, part fiction, part reality in a brief 135 pages.

Read an excerpt:  Prefacio

Relatos de una isla perdida is published by Ediciones Baquiana.
ISBN: 978-1-936647-41-5
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Papaya Suite (English)

Adventure is not limited to men or extreme sports. Adventure can be a daydream, a walk down the street or a series of life experiences. A heroine does not have to perform extraordinary feats of strength or courage.

Papaya Suite is a book about a woman's adventures from adolescent self-discovery to the self-acknowledgment of adulthood. Its hero, Celeste, personifies the headstrong young adult who follows her dreams, ignoring failures and building on successes -- in essence, almost romping through life. It is a light-hearted accounting of a young woman growing up during the early years of the Cuban revolution, who is sent to Spain where her exploration of life begins in earnest and continues to expand when she moves to the United States.

Read an excerpt:  Chapter 2: La Pegajosa, Pinar del Rio, 1968

Papaya Suite is published by La Gota de Agua Press.
ISBN: 9780981930306
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Dreams and Other Ailments
Sueños y otros achaques (Bilingual)

A bilingual collection of short stories

ForeWord Magazine's
 Bronze Award  Book of the Year 2001 
  Fiction Translation  

 Independent Publishers Award Finalist 200   Multicultural Fiction  

"Dreams and Other Ailments is a doorway... to the magical, even fantastic, and yet it is grounded in a reality that has an edge. [It] takes the reader on journeys that transit between dimensions, juxtaposing the seen and the unseen, the mundane and the miraculous, the tragic and the hopeful, while maintaining a connection that runs like a line to her Cuban beginnings. Nonpolitical but with a message, irreligious yet full of spirit, the stories express themselves in many voices, conflating race, gender, age, rage, ecstasy, and resignation. Bevin's overriding mark of style is her humor that twists each character's fate with ironic promise...  An inspiration, an education, and a chance to enter multiple realities, Dreams and Other Ailments will lift your spirits as it makes you wonder if the spirits being lifted are other than your own. An important collection by a brilliant new writer."
--Dr. Lynne Greeley, author, literary critic, and professor of theater, University of Vermont

Havana Split (English)

"Bevin's spirited first novel tells of Lara Canedo, a Cuban who left her homeland for Spain as a child at her mother's insistence. Twenty years later, in 1991, Lara returns to Cuba to rediscover the family members she left behind and gain an understanding of her parents' ambiguous relationship. With this healing knowledge she unites her present with her past and comes to terms with her sexual identity. Bevin reveals an astonishingly refreshing ability to write a fictional account of a Cuban exile's life that is personal without being painfully passionate. Her sparkling prose portrays people from all sides of Cuban politics with dignity. This tale of self-discovery is highly recommended for all collections." --Carolyn Ellis Gonzalez, University of Texas at San Antonio Library.

"... Havana Split demonstrates a keen awareness of the Cuban exiles' haunted memories and their desire for reconciliation.  The novel's acuity is apparent in Bevin's vivid descriptions of Lara's pre- and post-revolutionary Cuban life--from her aunt's ritualistic 'blood red lipstick' kiss to the chaotic scenes in the Miami Airport.  Likewise, Bevin's bold decision to write a lesbian character provides important insight into Cuba's virulent strain of homophobia, resulting in the gay community's resourceful, yet troubling, response.... The novel thus dramatizes the revolution's personal devastation."-- Beatriz Valdés, Clark University.

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