The main character of the new novel Ruins laments political changes in Cuba. The story is set in 1994 Havana, when Usnavy is still awaiting revolutionary glory and instead is faced with the economic hardship of his nation. Eight Forty-Eight’s literary critic Donna Seaman recently talked with author Achy Obejas about the people, the period and the places she documents in the novel.

Ms. Obejas will be reading from her book Thursday at Women and Children First in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.