Review: Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat

-


Breath, Eyes, Memory 
by
Edwidge Danticat
Book Dedication:
To the brave women of Haiti, 
grandmothers, mothers, aunts,
sisters, cousins, daughters, and friends,
on this shore and other shores.
We have stumbled but we will not fall.

 



Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Everything I say about this book is my true feelings about it. This is the only book I am willing to read multiple times. Please enjoy my review.

I hate this book with a passion that is unmatched. I first read this book when I was 14. It was our assigned prose textbook for my English lit class. I remember not wanting to read it at all. The only reason I came around to reading it was because, after Hurricane Maria, there was nothing to do. I had read every other book in my house twice and this was the last man standing. I finally decided to bite the bullet and give this a read knowing I would have to sooner or later.


I hate that I read this book at 14 but it is the only book that has stuck with me in such a way. Breath, Eyes, Memory explores generational trauma and letting go. It looks into the story of the women in a family as they try to navigate their traumas, and make decisions to benefit the people around them. It allows you to see into Sophie, Tante Ati, Martine, and Grandma Ife. It makes you love them and detest them and ache for them.


Breath, Eyes, Memory contains rape, sexual abuse, mutilation, suicide, and delusions. It follows the Caco women as they learn to breathe for the first time in a long time. As they learn to slowly let down their burdens. This book forever changed me when I was 14 and some days I am terrified to think about the characters too deeply. My mind is forever stained red because of the actions these characters take and the things they suffer through.


But honestly, I would not be who I am if I had never come across this book. It is a part of me. I would recommend this book to anyone who asks for something to read.


“‘Ou libere?’ Are you free?”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reality Escaped Us Before We Learned to Breathe

-
When you are seven and running through the lanes in your neighbourhood, You are grown. You are your own boss and no one can tell you what to do. Well, except your parents but other than them no one has the right. You'll feel stifled when they tell you that you're not allowed, They will have the audacity to tell you that you're not allowed to visit your friends And you'll want to scream and cry that it is unfair. But you don't. Because you are grown and the world is yours And nothing can make you unhappy. When you are eleven and going out with your friends, You are grown. You are in charge of your own destiny and you allow no one to get in your way. Well, except your parents because you just can't seem to get rid of them. You will choke down words of anger and hate when they tell you no. You will curse their entire bloodline out of hatred… Which honestly makes no sense considering the fact that you are a part of that bloodline... but still, You do it because you...
Read more

My Best Friend Wants to Change the World

-
My best friend and I always talk about how we're going to change the world. We joke about taking over and making it in our own image. But we know we can't do that no matter how many plans we make. It would just never be possible. So instead we talk about backpacking across Europe and Asia to learn new cultures and adopt new languages. We talk about going to Africa to reconnect with those ancestors who were stolen away so long ago. To connect with their blood spilled across the land into the seas. So we could listen to the songs the land would sing so we could feel some connection to those roots. We were uprooted and forced to adapt to a world that was unnecessarily cruel. Where we get called names and our cultures get torn from us and are ridiculed until we want nothing to do with it. And people may pretend like it is not cruel anymore and that we are accepted but that is false. Because there are always those who feel like we have no right to be among them. I tell my best frien...
Read more