A review by thatothernigeriangirl
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat

4.0

Prior to this book, I hadn’t read any book by Danticat nor have I read any Haitian literature. With less than 300 pages, The Dew Breaker delivered beyond expectations. It is a collection of 9 short stories that focus on different characters whose lives were affected by “a dew breaker”. Dew breaker is the English moniker given to members of the Tonton Macoute: a groups of brutal death squads who were private mercenaries of Papa Doc. François Duvalier (Papa Doc) was a brutal dictator that served as the president of Haiti from 1957-1971.
Their activities wrecked havoc to the lives of Haitians, both home and abroad. Hardly would one meet a Haitian whose family was t remotely affected by the actions of this squad and I think that influenced the writing style for this collection.

In the ‘Book of Dead’ an artist struggled to accept that her beloved father wasn’t who she thought him to be and in ‘Seven’, Danticst described the strangeness and beauty that accompanied the reunion of a couple who had been separated by the quest to find a better life. ‘Waterchild’ tells an inconclusive story of a nurse who moved away from home as she knew it to be and in the ‘Book of Miracles’, the mother of our artist describes her new life away from Haiti, her husband’s dark secrets and her detached daughter: all through the lens of faith. ‘Night Talkers’ saw the estranged husband from ‘Seven’ recalling the role of a dew breaker in the death of his parents.

My favorite story is the title story where Danticat showed us another picture of most dew breakers; the ones thrust into the deadly squad by circumstances and kept down by greed, money and power. The Dew Breaker is a lovely collection and it rose my bar for short stories collection when all its stories formed a grand picture, at the end. It’s a 4 star