Andrew Diaz Winkelmann
Cuban-American Author
The Guava Tree
Out now
The novel begins in 1967 Cuba when soldiers arrive to the home of Ines Diaz, a Lebanese immigrant, with the announcement that it’s time for her family to leave the island where she’d lived since she was six years old. When packing her family’s possessions into a single fabric curtain, she finds a box filled with childhood keepsakes that open a floodgate of memories, which comprise the heart of the novel.
Ines must learn from her past experiences in order to come to terms with leaving both her home and parents behind for an unknown life that awaits her in America. She experiences racism and the death of friends and loved ones, love and success, and must face the overwhelming fear that comes from seeing everything she knows change before her eyes.
About the Author
Andrew Diaz Winkelmann was born in Atlanta, GA and has an MFA in Creative Writing from Reinhardt University. Raised by a Cuban mother and an American father, he has a passion for writing stories that highlight varying cultures, and the immigrant experience. When he isn't working or writing, he and his wife, daughter, son, and Rhodesian Ridgeback can be found traveling and hiking.