Letters from Cuba

The Letters from Cuba are the work of the Swedish writer Fredrika Bremer. They were directed to her younger sister Ághate, who sadly died of tuberculosis before Fredrika returned to Stockholm. Fredrika arrived in Havana on January 31, 1851 and immediately wrote the first letter. In them he portrays, in the form of a diary, his travels around the island of Cuba, takes notes on the vegetation, makes considerations about the life of Cubans and Cuban architecture. In short, everything he sees, experiences and knows about this corner of the Antilles translates into an intelligent, sincere and risky prose.
Fredrika Bremer is believed to have been the first to write about the gospel music and slave songs she had heard along this journey. His Letters from Cuba also contain all kinds of criticisms of the terrible conditions suffered by slaves on the island of Cuba:

“The situation of slaves on the plantations here is generally worse than in the United States; They live worse, eat worse, work harder and lack any religious teaching. They are regarded entirely as cattle, and the slave trade with Africa is still practiced, albeit in secret.”

Translation by Matilde Goulard of Westberg.