Breath, Eyes, Memory

Description: "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"--

Review Quotes: Praise for Breath, Eyes, Memory

Oprah Book Club Selection

"Vibrant, magic . . . Danticat's elegant, intricate tale wraps readers into the haunting life of a young Haitian girl."
--The Boston Globe

"Danticat's calm clarity of vision takes on the resonance of folk art . . . Extraordinarily successful."
--The New York Times Book Review

"A novel that rewards the reader again and again with small but exquisite and unforgettable epiphanies."
--Washington Post Book World

"Written in prose as clear as a bell, magical as a butterfly, and resonant as drum talk . . . An impressive debut."
--Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies

"Reading Edwidge Danticat's first novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory, for the first time in 2015 is a remarkable experience . . . It is clear in retrospect that this is a novel whose literary resonance has been profound, one that opened many doors for others--without it, would we have The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao?"
--Barnes and Noble Review

"Danticat has created a stirring tale of life in two worlds: the spirit-rich land of her ancestry, whose painful themes work their way through lives across generational lines, and her adopted country, the United States, where a young immigrant girl must negotiate cold, often hostile terrain, even as she spars with painful demons of her past."
--Emerge

"A distinctive new voice with a sensitive insight into Haitian culture distinguishes this graceful debut novel . . . In simple, lyrical prose enriched by an elegiac tone and piquant observations, [Danticat] makes Sophie's confusion and guilt, her difficult assimilation into American culture and her eventual emotional liberation palpably clear."
--Publishers Weekly