Cuban Invasion By Elyn Saks: Summary

Elyn Saks started the novel by describing Miami, Florida during the 1950’s. It’s post World War II and the city had an increase in Hispanic settlers. Historians now refer to cultural change in Florida as the Cuban Invasion. At this point, Florida had not yet become a popular destination for people to live year round. Rather, it was a vacation destination for northerners and senior citizens to escape the frigid winter months. Both of her parents were from the north and despite popular convention moved to Florida prior to knowing one another. Later they would meet while studying at the University of Florida.
The oldest of several children she was raised in a Jewish suburban middle class neighborhood in northern Miami, Florida. Her father a tall and

handsome lawyer worked long hours to provide for the family. Her mother a tall, intelligent, dark hair and social woman worked as a stay at home mother. Elyn described her parents as being somewhat religious, affectionate, health conscious, strict, social and outspoken regarding religious and racial bigotry. Saturdays were spent observing the Sabbath. During the evenings her parents would either spend time out with their friends or with just each other. However, Sundays were devoted towards the family. She along with her siblings attended Hebrew school. They spent majority of their free time watching television and movies. Later, as a teenager her love of cinema would lead her to work at a movie theatre. As the oldest she spent most of her time working to out perform her siblings. The age difference between her and Kevin the youngest of her siblings made her feel as though he was her child. On the other hand, Warren the second oldest she would have a healthy sibling rivalry with.
At the age of eight she began develop what she referred to as quirky behaviors. She couldn’t leave her bedroom if her shoes weren’t aligned in a specific order. Also, prior to leaving the bathroom she would have to wash her hands several times. These actions caused a great deal of friction between her and the rest of the family. Soon they become angry with her; they stood outside of the bedroom and bathroom knocking on the door begging for her to burry up. Although, they thought this would help to motivate her to move faster it instead it increased her anxiety and frustration. She kept her quirky rituals a secret. Her parents never investigated into what she was doing or what may have been the cause behind her actions. Eventually, these daily quirks became apart of her life and she learned to function with them.
One evening while in bed her body she suddenly became consumed with terror.

The darkness of her bedroom crept into her body. As time progressed the sounds of the evening grew louder leaving her in a state of fear. Amongst the dark room she would see the shadow of someone standing outside her bedroom window. She didn’t know why someone would want to hurt her. Afraid to tell her parents she found refuge underneath the sheets of her bed. After several sleepless nights she spoke to her mother about the mysterious person outside her window. Her mother shrugged it off and told her that no one was there and not to worry. Her mother believed that this was either her imagination or eating too close to her bedtime. However, Elyn was determined to catch this mysterious man. Next, she enlisted the help of her brother Warren. Frightened they hid in the closet waiting to capture the bandit. Unfortunately, this heroic attempt was unsuccessful as the bandit never revealed himself to anyone but her. Soon it became apparent to everyone that no one was outside her window. But, these feelings of a watchful eye never fled her. As a result, Elyn spent many nights terrified underneath her sheets only falling a sleeping from

exhaustion.
“Dad, can we go out to the cabana for a swim?” asked Elyn. He father replied, “I told you I have work to do, Elyn, and anyway it might rain. How many times do I have to tell you the same thing? Don’t you listen?” After hearing these words Elyn’s heartbeat increased. Next, an intense feeling of fear and terror build inside of her. Soon her body became overwhelmed with these intense feelings of anxiety and fear. To avoid bringing any attention to herself she stood still; praying that these intense feelings would leave her and that no one could sense what was happening inside of her. Her father was unaware of what was taking place. She stood paralyzed being consumed by these feelings as they intensified. She described these feelings as disorganization. This is when your consciousness loses its’ coherence and your body center is unstable, everything around you is static like a radio between stations. She further described that the center of her body cannot hold these feelings and sensations. Intuitively she knew that she needed to keep this experience to herself and did so for a long time thereafter.
Later, when she was about twelve years old her parents had became obsessed with eating healthy. As a result, they began to monitor the food that they and their children ate. This couldn’t have happen at a better time for Elyn, as she was unhappy with the changes that occurred to her body after puberty. Although she enjoyed food and eating she didn’t enjoy the changes to her body. She used this opportunity to eat less, skipping lunch and moving the food around her plate for diner. Eventually, she lost all of the weight she gained during puberty and a lot more. Her 5’10 lean frame made it easy to notice that she wasn’t eating. At some point weighing less than one hundred pounds. One night after dinner her father along with the support of his wife demanded that she begin to eat. Elyn was upset and refused to make any changes. Her father said that she couldn’t control herself. His attempt at reverse psychology worked. She began to work diligently to gain all the weight that she lost and prove to her parents that she was in complete control. Shortly thereafter she returned to eating all the foods that she loved and returned to a healthy weight.
Towards the end of this chapter Elyn reflected of her younger self. She concluded the chapter by describing herself as a young girl who could have had a tremendous amount of willpower, stubbornness, ferociousness, strength or anxiety. However, she hasn’t come to realize these attributes due to her eternal turmoil and by the tone of the passage that her younger self may never know if she has these attributes. Lastly, she said that soon her younger self would learn that she was different and would struggle to win the battle from within.