Maria D. Alvarez

Maria D. Alvarez is working on a biography about her sister and herself, and their escape from Cuba during Castro’s reign.

Oil Ornaments & Artificial Grapes, the witnessing of the transition through a child’s eyes. It’s the story of a Cuban family that leaves that country in 1967, leaving behind their family and the only life they have ever known.

The new world brings the promise of freedom, but its promise does not come without a price. The new family that eagerly waits for them on the other side is as treacherous and dangerous as the regime they left behind. And so...the sisters protected by the grace of God embark on an amazing journey of survival.