A powerful collection of short stories that explore the Haitian diaspora experience.
For as long as I have seen or heard about Haiti in the media, it has always been a narrow narrative of a nation constantly plagued by extreme poverty, natural disasters, high aid dependence, soaring crime, and an unstable political climate. These views are not incorrect but they do not capture all that is about Haiti and its people.
Then Gay comes in with fifteen short stories that vary in length, mostly written outside of the traditional short story methods, and she changes the narrative. Ayiti introduces us to stories we don’t hear about Haiti, it expands and reaches into the people’s lives, their traumatic, triumphant, and resilient experiences.
It dispels the many misconceptions that we have of the nation, while honestly and daringly showing us the depth of some of its people’s challenges and struggles.
Sweet on the Tongue is a deep and powerful story about a woman’s traumatic experience with rape. It examines the pain, the shame, and the silence, but it also shows the effort to overcome these difficulties, with support and love through such a challenging ordeal.
Motherfuckers is flash fiction, two pages about a fourteen-year-old immigrant who expresses his hate for the US, and his experience being taunted in school for his foreignness.
A woman was conceived in a river where many of her people were massacred and the sharp smell of blood has always been with her, her whole life. In this story, In the Manner of Water or Light, we get a deep and illuminating account of generational impact from what happened in what would be known as The Massacre River, an actual site of executions of Haitian families that did take place.
“The waters did not run deep. It was just a border between two geographies of grief.”
The stories examine what it means to be Haitian in Haiti and America, but one brief and bold story, The Harder they Come shows the experience and behaviour of American tourists in Haiti, from ignoring the troubled Haiti that is “out there” to the sexual encounters with the locals.
“They say they quite like this Haiti, so clean and calm, so pleasant, not at all like on CNN.”
There is so much in this gut-punching, authentic, and haunting collection. There is homosexuality – the hiding that results from fear of what will happen if seen or discovered, but also the boldness in finding moments and spaces to express themselves and enjoy their passions. There is also love and sensuality, deep within the complexities of economic adversities.
Gay is astute at creating these real characters that spring out of the pages and lead you into their world, providing such an intimate experience of their realities. She leaves you with something to think about through her clever, cutting, and compelling writing. It’s a beautiful book and every single one of the stories matters.
The Book Neighbourhood 