The Island that Dared: Journeys in Cuba

The Island That Dared is a passionate book from the pen of Dervla Murphy, which begins with a three-generation family holiday in Cuba. Led by their redoubtable hard-walking grandmother, the trio of young girls and their mother soon find themselves camping out on empty beaches beneath the stars with only crabs and mosquitoes for company. This pure Swallows and Amazons experience confirms Dervla in her quest to understand the unique society that has been created by the Cuban Revolution. She returns again and again to explore the island, investigating the experience of modern Cuba with her particular, candid curiosity.

Dervla Murphy was born in Dublin in 1931. Her mother was invalided by arthritis and Dervla spent years caring for her, with occasional breaks bicycling on the Continent. Her mother’s death left her free to go farther afield and in 1963 she cycled to India. There she worked with Tibetan refugee children before returning home after a year to write her first two books. Full Tilt was published in 1965 and over twenty other travel books have followed.

Visit Dervla's website here