Barely a moment after the tiny Caribbean nation of Puerto Rey is established in the late 1800s, six spirited children are born to a genteel Catalonian lady, and a stern general of the new island Republic. From the Dictators' Shadows is a multigenerational family journey about the lives of the Burgos-Beltrán clan who lived through the birth of their nation, then saw it fall prey to a cruel dictatorship that forced their migration. Moved by the passionate eldest daughter, Rose, some forged new lives in North America. Others heeded the call of social justice and remained in the motherland fighting the dictatorship. Surviving devastating losses, a failed government coup, totalitarian rule, assassination, migration and mental illness, the vibrant and loving Burgos-Beltráns ultimately emerge in a new world and a new millennium.