A review
A voyage of short stories on the suffering souls of Haiti – beautiful, painful, instructive. Edwidge Danticat’s voice, voices, sing and lead us to her land, her lands – Haiti and the US – and fill us with the emotions and realities of a people living through troubled times. It is a must read for anyone who seeks a window into Haiti. It is a must read for those who seek the rich and profound melody of the Haitian voices.
Edwidge Danticat is a magician with words, a poet-philosopher-mystic-sociologist-psychologist writing short stories. Here are three quotes I loved:
"Their feet sounded as though they were playing a wet wind instrument as they slipped in and out of the puddles between the shacks in the shantytown."
"They slip phrases into their stew and wrap meaning around their pork before frying it. They make narrative dumplings…"
"When the tree is dead, ghosts eat the leaves."
Read it and take the time to enjoy the language, the images, the voices of a culturally rich nation. But beware, Edwidge Danticat shares the pain of her people with the readers, and that pain is deep.
For writers looking for tools of the craft – seek out rich and diverse and convincing voices of her characters, the power of telling the unforgiving truth of reality, and the depth given by threading cultural heritage into a work.
