Letters From Cuba is based on the true story of Ruth Behar’s real-life grandmother, Esther, who traveled alone from Poland to Cuba to help Behar’s great-grandfather earn enough money to allow the rest of the family to join them. The novel is deeply rooted in Behar’s family story and in Behar’s own life experiences. Behar admits that while “much of Esther’s story and her letters are fictional, many of the facts surrounding her are based on [Behar’s] family history” (236).

Behar was born in Havana and grew up speaking Spanish. As a girl, she was very close to Esther, or “Baba,” as Behar called her. Like Esther in the story, Baba had to convince her father that she could work as hard as a boy and persuade him to allow her to come to Cuba. Behar notes that her family “started from nothing in Cuba” (237). Like the fictional Esther, Baba loved Cuba, and Behar enjoyed hearing Baba’s stories about life in Agramonte. Behar is thankful that Baba immigrated to Cuba and loved it so dearly. She writes, “My grandmother became Cuban before she became American, and I did too, thanks to her” (242).

Baba and Behar’s family were forced to leave their beloved Cuba in the 1960s after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro, brought communism and political repression to the country.