Genevieve
This was my first read by Edwidge Danticat and I’m impressed.
“The dew breaker” basically means torturer in Haitian Creole, and the story centers around a man who was once part of the Tonton Macoute, the brutal militia responsible for killing and abusing thousands of people in Haiti during the François and Jean-Claude Duvalier regime between 1957–1986.
The story is told through multiple POVs, with each chapter following different characters dealing with trauma, survival, immigration, and the lasting effects of what happened in Haiti.
What I liked most was how every story eventually connected back to the dew breaker somehow, even though there were a few chapters where I didn’t really understand the connection at first or why they mattered. At times, the writing was so vivid that you could truly feel how dark, brutal, and haunting that period in Haiti was.
This wasn’t a favorite read for me, but I still think it was a really good and important one. The ending especially was heartbreaking and honestly one of the strongest parts of the book for me. Can’t wait to read more from her.
This was my first read by Edwidge Danticat and I’m impressed.
“The dew breaker” basically means torturer in Haitian Creole, and the story centers around a man who was once part of the Tonton Macoute, the brutal militia responsible for killing and abusing thousands of people in Haiti during the François and Jean-Claude Duvalier regime between 1957–1986.
The story is told through multiple POVs, with each chapter following different characters dealing with trauma, survival, immigration, and the lasting effects of what happened in Haiti.
What I liked most was how every story eventually connected back to the dew breaker somehow, even though there were a few chapters where I didn’t really understand the connection at first or why they mattered. At times, the writing was so vivid that you could truly feel how dark, brutal, and haunting that period in Haiti was.
This wasn’t a favorite read for me, but I still think it was a really good and important one. The ending especially was heartbreaking and honestly one of the strongest parts of the book for me. Can’t wait to read more from her.