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1919, 1993: A frightening true story of how the Klu Klux Klan came to town and how one man stayed to fight
At First Light
What you need to know before your trail
1993, Key West, Florida. A 96-year-old Cuban woman shoots dead a member of the Ku Klux Klan official in broad daylight. She admits her guilt and is taken away to the cells. There she starts to reveal the fascinating and graphic story of what has led her here and why she did what she did, who is is and where she came from.
The story of Alicia Cortez, mixed race at a time where theh colour of skin dictated who you were and how others treated you, tells the story of her love of one man, how racial segregation kept them apart and how one fateful day, the Ku Klux Klan came to town…
Inspired by real events.
Travel Guide
Key West
Key West was where the inspiration of this story actually lived and died. Manuel Cabeza died in 1921 as he would not give up his mixed race lover, La Rosita Negra, The Black Rose. He was a decorated war veteran and she a madam who worked in a ‘tea shop’ Wrong on moral and racial grounds at the time, when the Klu Klux Klan came to town, they warned them to separate or pay the penalty. He paid with his life and no one was ever held accountable of the crime.
In the author’s note, she writes that because of the Jim Crow Laws of the time,(state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States which remained in force until 1965), a relationship between a mixed race woman and a white man was illegal but that Key West was far more tolerant than most other places in the US as long as people were discreet. Apparently Cabeza and Angela were not discreet and lived openly as did the characters of John and Alicia in the novel.
The scandal turned into a tragedy when the Klu Klux Klan decided to come to this part of America and open up a new chapter. They were against Jews and Catholics rather than blacks at first but they soon saw all three as responsible for the downfall of society. They came for Cabeza in the night and tortured him. He then took his revenge for which he was taken to jail for his own safety but the Klan caught up with him. What happened next is still unknown but Cabeza died that night a broken, tortured and battered man. He is buried in Key West Cemetery.
The novel also evokes the flavour of the island at the time in happier ways – there’s the influence of the Spanish tongue, the food – oh the food such as the paticias de puerco, flan de caramel and huevos habaneros to name but a few. The flavour is richly captured with the culture and sounds,tastes and aromas of the time. Santeria was the practice of mixing religion and herbal medicine and was widely practiced at the time. When the Spanish flu hit here at it does in the novel, this was brought to light and is still practiced today.
The island was still paradise in the food and the animals who are evoked on the pages – the sea cows, the vibrant sea life and the feel of the sea on your face and the breeze in your hair. Smuggling was rife around this island at the time and Smathers Beach was the place where many shipments were brought in. There was another scar on the island – Key West was the place to start a afresh and taste a new life. For many women however, being brought to the island to work in a brothel found life here very hard indeed. And if you were black, you might be tolerated to some degree but would never be welcome.
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer
I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so visibly shocked and horrified at the unravelling of a story – a story which is a stain on American society just as much as it was when it happened in 1919. I’d not heard this story before of the KKK in Key West and it’s shocking is so many ways. The opening chapter sets the scene for the horror which is to follow and then we go back to when Alicia first cam to the island. I was enthralled with every page and although I knew I was heading for horror, I could not take my eyes of it and wanted to watch every word, feel every emotion, every battering thump of my chest as the opening chapter became even more horrific the more I read.
It’s a clever novel in many ways and a multilayered one. The reader is made to not just read the story but to feel it, see it, hear it through the eyes and ears of Alicia herself. I learned so much and became fascinated and horrified in equal measure and when I got to the end, well, my emotions had been up and down and I was left thinking about what had just happened for a long while after.
It’s a dangerous story where passion run high and where segregation and racism, extreme racism is the crux of the story. The women who showed such strength despite their work in the brothels, Alicia’s determination to live her own life and risk everything and the sheer desperation of her and tom was heartbreaking. Then came the KKK, their story building slowly almost as a side story at first until the true horrors became apparent, and I was an emotional wreck.
Key West also played a major role – the paradise background against the shocking stain of the KKK and the racial segregation of the time. This novel drew out my heart and allowed me to vividly see a story unfold of high emotion and sadness
There was one character in particular I hated and pitied at the same time, I wanted to reach into those pages and slap some sense into him. As the inevitable started to snow ball, I felt sick. Powerful reading which punches you in the heart and the chest until you can’t breathe and can’t see for the tears. Highly recommended for a historical insight and a shockingly emotional story into a a very dark moment in history and humanity. Vanessa Lafaye writes from the heart and she pulled out mine. Brilliant on so many levels and the saddest story I’ve experienced in a long while.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: At First Light
Author/Guide: Vanessa Lafaye Destination:Key West Departure Time: 1919, 1993
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