Our Woman in Havana

Graham Greene saw the Castros rise; Sarah Rainsford watched them leave. From the street where Wormold, the hapless hero of Greene’s Our Man in Havana, plied his trade, BBC foreign correspondent Rainsford reports on Fidel’s reshaping of a nation, and what the future holds for ordinary Cubans now that he and his brother Raul are no longer in power. Through tales of literary ghosts and forgotten reporters, believers in the revolution and dissidents, entrepreneurs optimistic about the new Cuba and the disillusioned still looking for a way out, Our Woman in Havana paints an enthralling picture of this enigmatic country as it enters a new era.

‘An unmissable insight into a still hidden world.’, ‘[A] colourful and affectionate account of this complex and fascinating place.’, ‘Rainsford confronts a country of enigmatic contradictions with eyes and heart wide open in this fascinating, enlightening read.’, ‘Sarah Rainsford has written a lively and detailed account of her time in Havana and evokes the spirit of Graham Greene in delightful and surprising ways.’

Sarah Rainsford has been a BBC foreign correspondent for fifteen years, beginning in Moscow, where her team’s coverage of the Beslan school siege won the SONY Gold Award. She has since been based in Istanbul and Madrid and worked in Afghanistan, Iraq and Ukraine. She was posted to Havana in 2011. This is her first book.