Annotation
At an astonishingly young age, Edwidge Danticat has become one of our most celebrated new novelists, a writer who evokes the wonder, terror, and heartache of her native Haiti--and the enduring strength of Haiti's women--with a vibrant imagery and narrative grace that bear witness to her people's suffering and courage. At the age of twelve, Sophie Caco is sent from her impoverished village of Croix-des-Rosets to New York, to be reunited with a mother she barely remembers. There she discovers secrets that no child should ever know, and a legacy of shame that can be healed only when she returns to Haiti--to the women who first reared her. What ensues is a passionate journey through a landscape charged with the supernatural and scarred by political violence, in a novel that bears witness to the traditions, suffering, and wisdom of an entire people.
Author Notes
Edwidge Danticat was born in Haiti in 1969 and raised by her aunt. She was reunited with her parents in the U.S. at age 12. She published her first writings two years later. Ms. Danticat holds a degree in French literature from Barnard College and an MFA from Brown University. Her short stories have appeared in over 20 periodicals, and she has won awards from Seventeen magazine and from Essence, as well as a James Michener Fellowship. She is also the author of a short-story collection, Krik? Krak!
Characters
| Name | Caco, Sophie |
| Gender | Female |
| Trait | Haitian |
| Genre | Domestic Coming of age Sociological Fiction |
| Topics | Haitian Americans Mothers and daughters Rites of passage Haitian culture |
| Setting | Haiti New York City |