When Haitians tell certain folklore stories, they say "Krik?" and the eager listeners answer "Krak!" With this groundbreaking story collection, Edwidge Danticat establishes herself as the latest heir to that narrative tradition with nine stories that encompass both the cruelties and the high ideals of Haitian life. They tell of women who continue loving behind prison walls and in the face of unfathomable loss; of a people who resist the brutality of their rulers through the powers of imagination. The result is a collection that outrages, saddens, and transports the reader with its sheer beauty.

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Reviews

Danticat writes about the violence and despair of Haiti with precision and directness…in Danticat's fiction, mind and spirit soar above the pain and horrors of life. Donna Seaman, Booklist

"Steeped in the myths and lore that sustained generations of Haitians, Krik? Krak! demonstrates the healing power of storytelling." --San Francisco Chronicle

"Virtually flawless. . . . If the news from Haiti is too painful to read, read this book instead and understand the place more deeply than you ever thought possible." --Washington Post Book World

"Spare, luminous stories that read like poems. . . . These. . . tales more than confirm the promise of her magical first novel. A silenced Haiti has once again found its literary voice." --Paule Marshall, author of Daughters.

"The voices of Krik? Krak!. . . encapsulate whole lifetimes of experience. Harsh, passionate, lyrical." --Seattle Times