From the best-selling author of Brother, I’m Dying and The Dew Breaker: a stunning new work of fiction that brings us deep into the intertwined lives of a small seaside town where a little girl, the daughter of a fisherman, has gone missing. Claire Limyè Lanmè—Claire of the Sea Light—is an enchanting child born into love and tragedy in Ville Rose, Haiti. Claire’s mother died in childbirth, and on … died in childbirth, and on each of her birthdays Claire is taken by her father, Nozias, to visit her mother’s grave. Nozias wonders if he should give away his young daughter to a local shopkeeper, who lost a child of her own, so that Claire can have a better life.
But on the night of Claire’s seventh birthday, when at last he makes the wrenching decision to do so, she disappears. As Nozias and others look for her, painful secrets, haunting memories, and startling truths are unearthed among the community of men and women whose individual stories connect to Claire, to her parents, and to the town itself. Told with piercing lyricism and the economy of a fable, Claire of the Sea Light is a tightly woven, breathtaking tapestry that explores what it means to be a parent, child, neighbor, lover, and friend, while revealing the mysterious bonds we share with the natural world and with one another. Embracing the magic and heartbreak of ordinary life, it is Edwidge Danticat’s most spellbinding, astonishing book yet.
This edition includes a reading group guide.
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This is a meditative and sensitive short story collection — though “story” feels inaccurate. Really, it’s a collection of intertwined character studies all centered around the inhabitants of Ville Rose in Haiti. The book begins with the disappearance of a young girl, but it’s not a thriller or a mystery. It is literary, deeply felt, and thoughtful.
On a small scale, by the sentence or paragraph, the writing is great: lyrical, descriptive phrases, interesting character development. But as a whole, the narration was very disjointed and almost chaotic. I felt like this novel had an attention deficit disorder! At the beginning, the story jumps from Claire’s 7th birthday, to earlier birthdays, with seemingly no connection at all. Then the story leaves her behind, and we are introduced to many local characters, and their story lines, meandering all over the Haitian village. By the time the novel goes back to what happened to Claire, it is almost the end of the book. I wanted to find out what happened to her so I kept reading but it was a chore for me to finish this book, due to the lack of focused story-telling.
The story of Claire is overshadowed by the characters of the town who have their own stories to tell, giving the reader a window into the lives of poverty stricken Haiti. It’s a sad read with some almost repulsive bits, but one can’t help feeling deeply for these poor people.
I liked the book with one caveat: The use of “would” for habitual actions in the past is a pet peeve of mine and there was far too much of that is this novel.
Blurb:
From the best-selling author of Brother, I’m Dying and The Dew Breaker: a stunning new work of fiction that brings us deep into the intertwined lives of a small seaside town where a little girl, the daughter of a fisherman, has gone missing.
Claire Limyè Lanmè—Claire of the Sea Light—is an enchanting child born into love and tragedy in Ville Rose, Haiti. Claire’s mother died in childbirth, and on each of her birthdays Claire is taken by her father, Nozias, to visit her mother’s grave. Nozias wonders if he should give away his young daughter to a local shopkeeper, who lost a child of her own, so that Claire can have a better life.
But on the night of Claire’s seventh birthday, when at last he makes the wrenching decision to do so, she disappears. As Nozias and others look for her, painful secrets, haunting memories, and startling truths are unearthed among the community of men and women whose individual stories connect to Claire, to her parents, and to the town itself. Told with piercing lyricism and the economy of a fable, Claire of the Sea Light is a tightly woven, breathtaking tapestry that explores what it means to be a parent, child, neighbor, lover, and friend, while revealing the mysterious bonds we share with the natural world and with one another. Embracing the magic and heartbreak of ordinary life, it is Edwidge Danticat’s most spellbinding, astonishing book yet.
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Claire of the Sea Light is the type of unforgettable novel that pulls at the heartstrings and produces an almost unbearable degree of searing emotion. Claire Limye Lanme Faustin is the title character, and she is, of course, focal to the narrative, but she also serves as the lightning rod from which multiple storylines are illuminated. Each of these tales has a rhapsodic quality, full of pain and brimming with enchantment. Danticat examines an array of complex characters from the town of Ville Rose in Haiti, and she gives us a magnificent tapestry of lives, all of them haunted by suffering and struggle. The connectivity of these wounded souls feels like a human mosaic of experiences that range from love and grief to betrayal and redemption. The lovely, poetic quality of Danticat’s prose is nothing short of mesmerizing. She brings to life a spellbinding place in Haiti, steeped in tragedy, reliant on hope, always full of compassion.
I love this author who gives an authentic view of life in Haiti.
It’s always interesting to read books set in places with which I’m not familiar. This was one such book. While I enjoyed the window into the world of Haiti, I felt the story dragged a bit and was little disjointed. It tied together in the end but it was slow-going getting there. I preferred Ms. Danticat’s first book, “Breath, Eyes and Memory.”
This original book has realistic and human flawed characters without making villians out of ordinary people. The story gives a new perspective to parent / child relationships. … and to the community of a small town. A real Page turner!