Comment by Elena Ferrante, Author of My Brilliant Friend and The Story of the Lost Child.
“I wanted to personally thank you for sharing such a reflective and emotionally ambitious work. The themes of memory, exile, identity, and reconciliation give the book a deeply human and universal resonance.
What stood out to me most is the way the project approaches memory not simply as nostalgia, but as something intertwined with healing, self-understanding, and the search for inner peace…
I also appreciated the broader human dimension suggested throughout the work. The intersection of personal history with larger political and historical forces gives the story an added weight, while still remaining rooted in intimate emotional experience. The reflections on family separation, cultural identity, and rediscovery seem to invite readers into their own process of introspection and remembrance.
…I have great admiration for authors who explore memory, displacement, and personal transformation with sincerity and emotional depth. Your memoir appears to do this with both honesty and compassion.”
Comment by Pat Barker
Author of The Silence of the Girls and Regeneration Trilogy
“What stayed with me most was the sense of mystery and discovery that runs throughout the book. You create a world that feels layered and intriguing, drawing the reader deeper with each chapter. There is a strong feeling of curiosity at the heart of the story, and that made it difficult to put down.
I also appreciated the way you balanced adventure with reflection. Beneath the action and unfolding events, there is a deeper sense of purpose and personal journey that gives the story emotional weight. Those quieter moments helped the characters feel real and grounded, which made their experiences more meaningful.
Your storytelling has a cinematic quality to it. The scenes are vivid, and the pacing keeps the reader engaged while still allowing space for tension and anticipation to build naturally. It is clear a great deal of care went into shaping both the world and the journey itself.”
Comment by Isabel Allende
Recipient of the 2014 US Presidential Medal of Freedom and Chile’s 2010 National Literature Prize
Author: The House of Spirits, Paula, City of Beasts, The Japanese Lover, A Long Petal of the Sea, and Violeta
“I wanted to reach out after reading Journey Back into the Vault. What stayed with me most was the tenderness of your return not just to Cuba as a physical place, but to memory, identity, and the emotional terrain of a childhood interrupted. The book reads as an act of quiet bravery.
I was especially moved by the way you describe memory as something both fragile and insistent how the “faded footprints” re-emerge through homes, schools, graves, and unexpected encounters. The journey feels at once deeply personal and universally human, shaped by loss, exile, and the long work of reconciliation with what was taken and what endured.
As a fellow writer, I’m always struck by how difficult it is to revisit painful histories without sentimentality or bitterness. Your restraint, honesty, and openness to grace give the book its emotional power. I’d be very interested to hear how the act of writing itself changed your relationship to those stored memories—and whether the return brought the peace you were seeking.
Thank you for sharing such an intimate and generous story. It left a lasting impression on me.”
Comment by David Lawrence Jr.
Author and retired publisher of the Miami Herald and Chair of The Children’s Movement of Florida
Author: A Dedicated Life: Journalism, Justice and a Chance for Every Child
“Mario Cartaya’s “Journey Back into the Vault: In Search of My Faded Cuban Childhood Footprints” is a love story of family and country (Cuba and the United States). What a superb storyteller. This is a beautiful, meaningful story. Indeed, it is a treasure.”
Comment by Kingsley Guy
Author and retired journalist who served for 23 years as the editorial page editor of South Florida’s Sun-Sentinel newspaper
Author of Piercing the Veil: A Skeptical Journalist Discovers Unseen Worlds and Queen of the Heavens
“In Journey Back Into The Vault, Mario Cartaya conveys to the reader the historical plight of Cuban families on both sides of the Florida Straits—and the hope for a brighter and shared future for the people of Cuba and the diaspora. Mr. Cartaya has a crisp, colorful and descriptive writing style. His moving passages tap into the readers’ sentiments and enable them to feel the many emotions and astonishing surprises the author experienced during his first return to Cuba—after five decades of exile in the United States. His story conveys a spiritual message often lost in these materialistic times: When we engage on a voyage of self-discovery, as the author did, the Universe often supplies surprising guideposts that point us in the right direction.”
Comment by David Powell
Author of Ninety Miles and a Lifetime Away: Memories of Early Cuban Exiles
“Join Mario Cartaya on this travelogue to Cuba and to his own past as one of the first migrants in the Cuban diaspora that began in 1959. On this bittersweet journey of rediscovery, he finds little-remembered places of his pre-revolutionary childhood, family he never knew he had, and a Cuba that is bewitching but still captive to the failed economic and political system that triggered the diaspora long ago. His story packs an emotional wallop.”
Comment by Charles Redner
Author of Long-A-Coming; Down But Never Out; Terror Travels the Devil’s Highway
Executive Editor and Publisher, The Hummingbird Review
“This true story is a love story as heartfelt as any told in a novel. A tale of love of family, place, and relationships. Mario encounters his past with visits to places where he lived, studied, and played. Luck follows Mario wherever he travels; elderly family members appear as if on cue, and people who knew the young boy pop up surprisingly where they were back nearly 60 years earlier. It becomes evident that young Mario was loved deeply by those who encountered him including teachers, distant relatives, playmates, and even street vendors. “Mario exits Cuba better for having come back to find his lost childhood and departs happily for his American life. Mario could not live in a country that he vividly states is, ‘forever stuck, like a broken watch, in1959.’
“It also becomes evident that Mario has passed on the love of which he was on the receiving end, and has cast it forward onto his present family.
“This story will trigger memories of one’s own childhood experiences and bring back those happy and/or trying times; but if lost, may suggest you journey to your own vault wherever it may be.”
Comment by Rachel Pedersen
“What stayed with me most was the way the memoir treats memory as something simultaneously protective and painful. The return to Cuba feels less like a nostalgic homecoming and more like an emotional excavation where physical places gradually unlock parts of identity that had been sealed away for decades.
What makes Journey Back Into The Vault especially distinct is the way ordinary locations such as schools, homes, and cemeteries become emotional landmarks carrying the weight of interrupted childhood, lost family continuity, and the long psychological consequences of exile.”
Comment by Scarlett Vale
“What impressed me most while reading wasn’t the fifty-six-year gap itself, but the way the book handles memory. The vault never feels like a conventional metaphor for repression. It feels real. Constructed. Necessary. As if you are trying to retrieve footprints that were deliberately buried because remembering was once too painful, and the return journey is not about nostalgia but about becoming whole again. That approach gives the memoir a psychological weight many exile narratives aim for but rarely sustain.
Comment by Tibor Takacs-Hollywood Film Director
“Mario Cartaya pens an enchanting memoir chronicling his journey from Cuba to America and back. With eloquence and sincerity, he delves into his quest to reconnect with his Cuban roots, painting a vivid tapestry adorned with captivating characters. Through every twist and turn, Mario’s compassionate storytelling illuminates the inherent dignity of the individuals entangled in the political strife, especially those left behind. The narrative is driven by Mario’s relentless pursuit of closure and inner peace, a quest that resonates profoundly with anyone familiar with the complexities of immigration and the yearning for a lost homeland. As someone who has traversed the path of immigration and traveled to Cuba, Mario’s vivid portrayal of his boyhood experiences and the essence of Cuba struck a deep chord within me. The story not only captivates but also advocates for the long-overdue bridging of gaps between the United States and Cuba. It stands as a compelling testament to the importance of fostering connections between nations, making it a compelling and poignant read.”
Comment by Cecelia Hall—Academy Award Winner
“Journey Back Into The Vault is a moving account of the human spirit. It’s a terrific story worth telling—an American story that is both fascinating and inspiring. A must read!”
Comment by Martin Driscoll
“Mario Cartaya is a renown Florida architect of Cuban heritage. Knowing him from the World of building and construction, and a little of his story, I was curious to read the book. Wow! I had no idea that I would be caught up in the story and how wonderful the writing, tone and story is told. His DNA is in magnificent structures all over that will stand the test of time and outlive us all. Yet, I think it is that this book will be his most lasting legacy. It takes the reader on an adventure that feels like a good buddy flick movie. You become immersed on all senses in the sites, sounds and feelings of a man revisiting his childhood after being forced to flee at a tender age. It was perfect, and I was thoroughly engrossed in the story, feeling not only the ambiance of the place but also the emotional and robust patterns that he is experiencing. It exceeded every expectations I could have for a book and recommend it without reservation”
Comment by Hugh Turner
“This book is remarkably well written. Mario Cartaya shares in an emotional and personal way what drove him in 2016 to revisit Cuba, a country he had left as a boy 56 years before. Readers are invited to join the author in this incredible journey to retrace his childhood footsteps and reconnect with his history and family. The author does a great job mixing his personal experiences with Cuban history which gives the story context. A great adventure and self discovery of one’s roots.”
Comment by Vic
“This book is written in a manner that one feels as though they are walking beside the author as he travels to his childhood homes, parks and beaches of his memories in Cuba. It is funny as well as emotional and full of pleasant surprises along the way. The kindness and humanity the author was shown as he visited former homes was nice to read about as the current residents allowed him to enter and view his former homes. Sometimes you enjoy a book so much you really don’t want it to end. This is one of those books. To the Author, Mario Cartaya, thank you for letting me take this journey to Cuba through your eyes and meet so many wonderful people
Comment by South Floridian
“A refreshing story of finding one’s inner peace in an effort of discovering your true meaning of life. Mario Cartaya is a wonderful storyteller.”
Comment by Brooke, Grad Student, University of Florida
“The book seems to have made sure that your journey’s capacity to inspire didn’t end when you landed back in the U.S.”
“I felt like I was able to walk beside you in those breathtaking moments of finding connection to your family and childhood memories. Despite very different circumstances, I was able to relate to your urgency to find all of those place that you remembered as the puzzle pieces of your Cuban identity in the hopes that they’d bring some of that core identity back; I always relied on my Kiwi identity growing up, and I still crave another visit to New Zealand on my own terms so that I can try to rediscover what identity actually means to me.”
Comment by Lulrick Balsora, Dean, Broward College
“I want to express my deepest appreciation for the time you spent with our students. The feedback so far has been extremely positive. One student stated, “I am not very close to my immediate family and did not expect the event to inspire me to connect with them. After the session with Mr. Cartaya, I am going to take the journey back into my vault… Hopefully, we can repair some of the damages of the past.” That is one of many such sentiments. You made an impact