Dèy
About the book
Author: Edwidge Danticat
Publisher: Knopf
More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.
Buy and support indie bookstores (+ I earn a small commission):
Bookshop.org (print or ebook) | Libro.fm (audio)
My review
If I’m being honest, Edwidge Danticat has always intimidated me a little bit, tbh for no good reason other than my perception of her high reputation in literary circles. So I didn’t originally have Déy on the shortlist of my TBR, but then it was longlisted (now a Finalist) for the National Book Award, and I have to say: this was SO readable and moving, and such a pleasant surprise.
The book opens with our main character, a Haitian-American woman named Magnolia, hiding from an active shooter in a shopping mall. She escapes, but doesn’t admit to anyone, including her partner/friends/family, that she was there. That’s all in the cover synopsis, and I had expected to be frustrated by it (I famously hate a plot driven by lack of communication). Instead, Danticat depicted Magnolia’s PTSD and the turmoil of her psyche so well that I found her deeply sympathetic. Magnolia’s voice comes through sharp and clear and honestly, I really wanted to give her a hug.
I also found myself surprised by how much of this book was not just about Magnolia’s recovery, but also the anxiety of modern parenthood w/r/t school shootings. But it works, especially because what Danticat is really writing about here is the daily reality of living in a world where violence is an all-too-common reality. The parallels she draws between the US (Miami) and the violence her parents are fleeing in Haiti are clear and resonant. I also thought her exploration of Magnolia’s anxieties about her mother’s mental illness and her own mental health (and that of her daughter) played together with those themes in interesting ways, the cyclical and generational nature of it all.
All in all, this was just a plain GOOD novel. The perfect length. Plenty of emotion and resonance. The audiobook very well done. You should give it a read!
Content and trigger warnings
Mass/school shootings
Panic attack/disorder/PTSD
Child death
Death, grief
Dementia
