Scan barcode
smark1342's review
Great book that took me forever to finish through no fault of it's own, just got to it during a month when I had no energy/time to read. One of the things I remember most viscerally from the black Jacobins was how fuckin hard cane cutting is and the first third of this book was fascinating in how little that seemed to have changed in the 130 years (and across the border) between the two books. Drawing a border that splits that island seems like such a futile artificial thing in so many ways and obviously has just hideous consequences all the way down. I feel like it also loads so many things with powerful symbolic meaning that must trickle down to the writing. The border and violence associated with it and the weird selective membrane felt like a bolano theme approached from a totally different angle.
Historical fiction sometimes feels off to me because you have to (or maybe feel you have to) provide context for the reader usually in corny clunky or ways and I admired how she largely avoided that. Taking a historical event like the parsley massacre, which I had always thought of as an event rather than as something that was more extensive in time and place, and making the reader feel like they understand something more about it from a bird's eye even though the writing is all very ground level is an incredible trick. It added so much reality to something that I obviously knew *existed* but existed in a more Wikipedia sense.
Amabelle is an interesting narrator in that she gives the other characters very little in the way of what she's thinking and then confides everything in the reader, sometimes in these abrupt almost surreal transitions away from the realist plot driven paragraphs preceding it.
Historical fiction sometimes feels off to me because you have to (or maybe feel you have to) provide context for the reader usually in corny clunky or ways and I admired how she largely avoided that. Taking a historical event like the parsley massacre, which I had always thought of as an event rather than as something that was more extensive in time and place, and making the reader feel like they understand something more about it from a bird's eye even though the writing is all very ground level is an incredible trick. It added so much reality to something that I obviously knew *existed* but existed in a more Wikipedia sense.
Amabelle is an interesting narrator in that she gives the other characters very little in the way of what she's thinking and then confides everything in the reader, sometimes in these abrupt almost surreal transitions away from the realist plot driven paragraphs preceding it.
heidihaverkamp's review
5.0
Danticat writes perfect sentences. Her characters come alive. This particular novel is about the "Parsley Massacre" of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic in 1937 - who were killed if they could not pronounce "perejil" with Spanish inflections, although they were the engine making the DR's sugar economy run. It's powerful, gorgeous, and fantastic book, but not "blood porn" - the horror of the massacre is subtle which makes it so much more real. It's also a book about grief.
gwalt118's review
3.0
I enjoyed this novel because it is told from the perspective of the oppressed rather than the oppressor. That alone makes it valid and worthy of a read, because there aren't enough novels like this in the world. I so appreciate Danticat's effort to give voice to those who are often rendered voiceless.
This story is full of sorrow and imagery, and I love how Danticat uses duality - light and dark, birth and death, Haitian and Dominican - to explicate the characters, particularly Amabelle, and examine historical events of the novel.
I thought the last third of the novel was, well, boring. The narration becomes quite monotonous and I found myself anticipating the end of the book just so that it's over. It gets a bit repetitive. While I do appreciate Amabelle's perspective, I think other characters - Yves, Senora Valencia, Man Rapadou - were very underdeveloped. I understand why Danticat focused on one individual's experiences, but I might have found the novel more interesting if she had developed other perspectives as well.
This story is full of sorrow and imagery, and I love how Danticat uses duality - light and dark, birth and death, Haitian and Dominican - to explicate the characters, particularly Amabelle, and examine historical events of the novel.
I thought the last third of the novel was, well, boring. The narration becomes quite monotonous and I found myself anticipating the end of the book just so that it's over. It gets a bit repetitive. While I do appreciate Amabelle's perspective, I think other characters - Yves, Senora Valencia, Man Rapadou - were very underdeveloped. I understand why Danticat focused on one individual's experiences, but I might have found the novel more interesting if she had developed other perspectives as well.
jordanm77's review
4.0
This book sheds light on the little known and discussed Parsley Massacre that occurred during an ethnic cleansing movement started in the Dominican Republic by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. Dominican soldiers would have people along the border say the word “perejil” which is parsley in Spanish - but Haitians pronounce it differently than the native Spanish-speaking Dominicans, and were therefore executed on the spot. It is heartbreaking and terrible - which is why this novel is so important. The narration can be a little confusing and it is not an easy read, but it is hard to put down. The story follows Amabelle, a young Haitian woman living in the DR. Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island Hispaniola, and there has been hostility between the nations for a while. Amabelle’s story is a glimpse into the way that people lived and survived during this time.
jskipworth's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
k8rbennett's review
5.0
Wow. I can't remember the last time a book broke my heart like this. In spite of that, I can't recommend it enough; an incredibly poignant, touching, and heart-wrenching novel about a little-known piece of history.