Name: Breath, Eyes, Memory
Rating: 4.145833333333333 (24 reviews)
ISBN: 9780349106823

Edwidge Danticat

This evocative story is told through the eyes of Sophie, who was raised by her aunt when her mother left Haiti to find work in America. The author draws on the rich landscape of memory of the folklore and violent politics of Haiti.

Breath, Eyes, Memory

ayoni

There is always a place where women live near trees that, blowing in the wind, sound like magic. These women tell stories to their children both to frighten and delight them. These women, they are fluttering lanterns on the hills, the fireflies in the night, the faces that loom over you and recreate the same unspeakable acts that they themselves lived through. There is always a place where nightmares are passed through generations like heirlooms. Where women like cardinal birds return to look at their own faces in stagnant bodies of water.

"Because of you. I feel like a helpless cripple. I sometimes want to kill myself. All because of what you did to me, a child who could not say no, a child who could not defend herself. It would be easy to hate you, but I can't because you are a part of me. You are me."

Her ten fingers have been named for her even before she was born. Sometimes, she even wished she had six fingers on each hand so she could have two left for herself.

If she wanted to stop bleeding, she would have to give up her right to be a human being. She could choose what to be, a plant or an animal, but she could no longer be a woman.

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.

the cost of being born as a woman, it's so cruel

Breath, eyes, memory

Sarah Sammis

Beautifully lyrical and full of hope even during personal tragedy but the ending takes all that building emotion and dashes it. The ending spoiled the book for me. It seemed unnecessarily tragic -- tragic just for the sake of being tragic.

Jeni Enjaian

Danticat's books have stayed on my to-read list longer than almost any because of their startling, harsh realism. I first added them to the list after reading her Dear America series contributions. Her writing taken remains undiminished. The content of the other novels is what I struggle with. 
She has such beautiful prose but uses it to describe horrific or just plain depressing moments. Her narrative is unflinchingly realistic. I struggle to read this realism when it comes to the sexual nature of many of the problems that the Haitian women in her books face. 
She is a brilliant author whose books lack a sense of hope.

Suzanne C.

Emily Burns

Lindy

Melissa B.

Kaycee

Fransheska Savinon

Jill Clark

Emily

Clare B

Ronda Bender

Stephanie Honour

Kevin. j Mercil 

The 20th anniversary edition of Edwidge Danticat's groundbreaking debut, now an established classic--revised and with a new introduction by the author, and including extensive bonus materials At the age of twelve, Sophie Caco is sent from her impoverished Haitian village 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 her stunning literary debut, Danticat evokes the wonder, terror, and heartache of her native Haiti--and the enduring strength of Haiti's women--with vibrant imagery and narrative grace that bear witness to her people's suffering and courage.

Breath, Eyes, Memory

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