From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Dandicat's moving memoir focuses on her Uncle Joseph, who raised her in Haiti, and her father, who was reunited with her in the United States when she was 12. Robin Miles brings the two brothers to life. Portraying Dandicat's father, Mira, as soft-spoken and wise, she sagely decides not to try to imitate the mechanical voice box he uses after losing his larynx to throat cancer. The women sound much more alike, but Dandicat's mother and many aunts have relatively minor roles. The exception is Dandicat herself, the powerful narrator whom Miles portrays as a calm presence in the midst of political and familial tragedies. Miles's Creole sounds fluid and authentic, and listeners will have no trouble understanding the characters' French accents (Creole phrases are followed by translations). Miles uses the same pace throughout, but she might have given more pep to Joseph's breathtaking escape from Haiti. Miles is a perfect fit for Dandicat's books—she previously read
Breath, Eyes, Memory. She artfully immerses listeners in Dandicat's world and will leave them wanting more.
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*Starred Review* In 2004, Danticat's uncle Joseph, a pastor in poor health at 81, fled Haiti after his church was burned, only to die under appalling circumstances in Florida's Krome detention center. Danticat drew on aspects of her uncle's life in her last novel, The Dew Breaker (2004), and now tells the true story straight in this consuming family memoir. Marshaling her considerable storytelling skills, Danticat vividly evokes the volatile Port-au-Prince neighborhood she called home after her parents emigrated to America and left her in the loving care of Joseph, her father's brother, and his wife. As she chronicles her uncle's experiences in politics and the church and the throat cancer that claimed his ability to speak, as well as her parents' lives in New York before and after she was reunited with them, Haiti's bloody history and ongoing turmoil form her narrative's molten core while voice becomes its leitmotif. In a shattering yet redemptive manifestation of life's cycles, as Danticat's uncle enters his final days, her father is slowly silenced by lung disease, and she awaits the birth of her daughter. This meticulously crafted, deeply felt remembrance is a homage to one remarkable family, and all who persevere, seeking justice and channeling love. Seaman, Donna
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