Book Review: The Eternal Forest: A Memoir of the Cuban Diaspora by Elena Sheppard-Memoir

Hello, dear Readers,

Below is my book review of The Eternal Forest: A Memoir of the Cuban Diaspora by Elena Sheppard.

Title: The Eternal Forest: A Memoir of the Cuban Diaspora

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Memoir

Author: Elena Sheppard

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: September 30, 2025

Language: English

Hardcover: 288 Pages

Meet the Author: Elena Sheppard

Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

"Spellbinding." ―Booklist, starred review • "A must-read." ―Library Journal

"Poetic." ―Emma Straub • "This is writing as spell-casting and archival longing." ―Leslie Jamison

A memoir of the Cuban diaspora that follows one family’s exile from the island, through a lyrical exploration of memory, cultural mythology, and the history of Cuban-American relations.

History is undeniably dominated by its men, but the stories Elena Sheppard was brought up on were almost always about Cuba’s women―everyday women, whose names would be forgotten and buried along with their bones unless someone took the effort to remember them.

Cifuentes, Cuba, in the 1950s was nearly idyllic―at least that’s how Elena’s grandparents, Rosita and Gustavo Delgado, remember the Eden they left. When Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, Gustavo was placed on a list of political undesirables, and by the end of 1960, the couple and their two daughters had fled to Florida, with nothing more than five dollars, and a suitcase each. The Delgados were certain they would return to Cifuentes within a few months, after Castro’s reign had run its course. But they never went back, and a piece of each of their identities became frozen in that moment.

In 1987, Elena was the first in Gustavo and Rosita’s family to be born in the United States, but through the memories that lived on in her grandmother’s mind, Cuba became the foundation of her childhood. Elena takes us inside these stories, and as we travel back and forth across the narrow Florida Straits that separate Miami and Havana, we also weave between past and present, to discover family secrets that are on the brink of being lost to time.

In lyrical yet unflinching prose, The Eternal Forest follows one family’s exile from their homeland and in so doing, it tells the larger political story of the Cuban Revolution and its diaspora. Through a spellbinding blend of cultural myth, historical texts, and personal narrative, The Eternal Forest seeks to understand the nature of inheritance, how trauma and memory are passed down through generations, and what it means to yearn for an island you can never fully know.

My Thoughts

Always interesting for me to read anything related to Cuba, especially when it is a memoir.

Reading about people's experiences, from exile, family history, going back to Cuba, the culture, family dynamics, relationships, and life in America, gives you a completely different view and understanding of what you may know or do you think you know about Cubans and Cuba in general.

I appreciate the author's descriptions, showing history and relationships. I appreciate the care and interest in telling the stories the right way. 

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Wendy