Book Review: Mingo Dabney

Book Review: Mingo Dabney by James Street

Mingo Dabney is a Mississippi woodsman from Lebanon who falls in love with the lovely but exotic (white-haired) Cuban woman Rafaela Galbran when she comes to his hometown seeking money and arms for the 1895 Cuban revolution. Being a passionate young fellow, he winds up following her to Cuba and getting mixed up in the fighting.

The story is based on real events and several of the people involved actually existed. Jose Marti, the author of “Guantanamera”, has a small but key role, for example. However, as the author admits in the foreword, he’s a storyteller, not a historian, and has rearranged things to make a better tale. In particular, one incident is moved from the 1868 revolution to 1895.

Racism is acknowledged in the story; while Mingo himself is surprisingly unbigoted for his time and place, the reputation of Southerners for racial prejudice works against him in the early part of the story. The revolutionaries’ fear that American intervention would result in a loss of sovereignty for Cuba is also mentioned.  Rafaela is the only woman with a substantial role in the book, and is primarily a symbol for the troops to rally around.

The book ends before the end of the revolution and the beginning of the Spanish-American War; it could easily have a sequel as there are several plot threads left loose, but Mingo Dabney’s character arc is complete, so it’s a satisfying ending.

You might have a little trouble finding this one–it appears that the most recent Cuban Revolution soured American readers on the topic, and it was not reprinted past the 1950s. But it’s a solid read about a period of history little taught in US schools.