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Breath, Eyes, Memory (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "A flattened and drying daffodil was dangling off the little card that I had made my aunt Atie for Mother's Day..." (more)
Key Phrases: Tante Atie, New York, Madame Augustin (more...)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Oprah Book Club® Selection, May 1998: "I come from a place where breath, eyes and memory are one, a place from which you carry your past like the hair on your head. Where women return to their children as butterflies or as tears in the eyes of the statues that their daughters pray to." The place is Haiti and the speaker is Sophie, the heroine of Edwidge Danticat's novel, "Breath, Eyes, Memory." Like her protagonist, Danticat is also Haitian; like her, she was raised in Haiti by an aunt until she came to the United States at age 12. Indeed, in her short stories, Danticat has often drawn on her background to fund her fiction, and she continues to do so in her debut novel.

The story begins in Haiti, on Mother's Day, when young Sophie discovers that she is about to leave the only home she has ever known with her Tante Atie in Croix-des-Rosets, Haiti, to go live with her mother in New York City. These early chapters in Haiti are lovely, subtly evoking the tender, painful relationship between the motherless child and the childless woman who feels honor bound to guard the natural mother's rights to the girl's affections above her own. Presented with a Mother's Day card, Tante Atie responds: "'It is for a mother, your mother.' She motioned me away with a wave of her hand. 'When it is Aunt's Day, you can make me one.'" Danticat also uses these pages to limn a vibrant portrait of life in Haiti from the cups of ginger tea and baskets of cassava bread served at community potlucks to the folk tales of a "people in Guinea who carry the sky on their heads."

With Sophie's transition from a fairly happy existence with her aunt and grandmother in rural Haiti to life in New York with a mother she has never seen, Danticat's roots as a short-story writer become more evident; "Breath, Eyes, Memory" begins to read more like a collection of connected stories than a seamlessly evolved novel. In a couple of short chapters, Sophie arrives in New York, meets her mother, makes the acquaintance of her mother's new boyfriend, Marc, and discovers that she was the product of a rape when her mother was a teenager in Haiti. The novel then jumps several years ahead to Sophie's graduation from high school and her infatuation with an older man who lives next door. Unfortunately, this is also the point in the novel where Danticat begins to lay her themes on with a trowel instead of a brush: Sophie's mother becomes obsessed with protecting her daughter's virginity, going so far as to administer physical "tests" on a regular basis--testing which leads eventually to a rift in their relationship and to Sophie's struggle with her own sexuality. Soon the litany of victimization is flying thick and fast: female genital mutilation, incest, rape, frigidity, breast cancer, and abortion are the issues that arise in the final third of the novel, eventually drowning both fine writing and perceptive characterization under a deluge of angst.

Still, there is much to admire about "Breath, Eyes, Memory," and if at times the plot becomes overheated, Danticat's lyrical, vivid prose offers some real delight. If nothing else, this novel is sure to entice readers to look for Danticat's short stories--and possibly to sample other fiction from the West Indies as well. --Alix Wilber



From Publishers Weekly

A distinctive new voice with a sensitive insight into Haitian culture distinguishes this graceful debut novel about a young girl's coming of age under difficult circumstances. "I come from a place where breath, eyes and memory are one, a place where you carry your past like the hair on your head," says narrator Sophie Caco, ruminating on the chains of duty and love that bind the courageous women in her family. The burden of being a woman in Haiti, where purity and chastity are a matter of family honor, and where "nightmares are passed on through generations like heirlooms," is Danticat's theme. Born after her mother Martine was raped, Sophie is raised by her Tante Atie in a small town in Haiti. At 12 she joins Martine in New York, while Atie returns to her native village to care for indomitable Grandmother Ife. Neither Sophie nor Martine can escape the weight of the past, resulting in a pattern of insomnia, bulimia, sexual trauma and mental anguish that afflicts both of them and leads inexorably to tragedy. Though her tale is permeated with a haunting sadness, Danticat also imbues it with color and magic, beautifully evoking the pace and character of Creole life, the feel of both village and farm communities, where the omnipresent Tontons Macoute mean daily terror, where voudon rituals and superstitions still dominate even as illiterate inhabitants utilize such 20th-century conveniences as cassettes to correspond with emigres in America. In simple, lyrical prose enriched by an elegiac tone and piquant observations, she makes Sophie's confusion and guilt, her difficult assimilation into American culture and her eventual emotional liberation palpably clear. Paperback rights to Vintage; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (May 18, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 037570504X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375705045
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (214 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,249 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Edwidge Danticat
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A flattened and drying daffodil was dangling off the little card that I had made my aunt Atie for Mother's Day. Read the first page
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Tante Atie, New York, Madame Augustin, Monsieur Augustin, Dame Marie, Mother's Day, Man Grace, Man Legros, Jesus Marie Joseph, Nostrand Avenue
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214 Reviews
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3.9 out of 5 stars (214 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting look into another culture, May 4, 2001
Wow. A pause while I catch my breath...

Edwidge Danticat has written an exceptional and beautifully crafted novel about a young Haitian girl and the family of women that surround her. A somber, spiritual story told with a feverish tenacity that will bewitch you and leave you aching for more from this talented and gifted writer.

After twelve years of being raised in Haiti by her aunt Atie, young Sophie Caco has been summoned by her mother to join her in New York. Sophie is terrified and does not want to go, especially since she does not remember her mother, who left Haiti when Sophie was just a baby. What follows is a painful rendering of horrifying secrets and Haitian tradition that deeply affects Sophie and the way she lives her life. Finally, frantic for justification and healing, Sophie turns to her homeland for the answers and refuge she so desperately needs.

The flow of the writing is smooth and lyrical, like music that rolls off the tongue. There is just enough description to make vivid pictures, but not too much to overwhelm. I do find it lacking in the development of the relationship between Sophie and her mother, although not enough to interrupt the beauty and quality of the story. Readers will be awed at the strong determination of the Caco women and the unbreakable bonds that hold them together. A very poetic and powerful novel that mixes a family, their culture, and a country in the midst of political upheaval. Breath, Eyes, Memory is extraordinary.

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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Haitian Experience, February 2, 2000
By Jenifer Wells (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Breath, Eyes, Memory (Hardcover)
Breath, Eyes, Memory, Edwidge Danticat's first novel, is a stirring story of Haiti and the Haitian Diaspora. Sophie, the main character, has much in common with her native country: confusion about her parentage, difficulty adjusting to different people's rights of sovereignty over her, violence in her past, duty in her present, and hope in her future. As one reviewer below has said, the characters are dysfunctional. That's kind of the whole point: in a nation such as Haiti (set just before the fall of Baby Doc), where terrorism and poverty reigned, it's impossible for the majority of people to be fully "okay" psychologically and/or physically. Leaving for what one hopes will be a better life in the United States in many cases only adds to the sense of dispossession felt by immigrating Haitians. Read this book not to find the psychological connection between rape and sexual dysfunction, but instead to find the balance of fear facing the people of Haiti, both at home and abroad. Pay attention near the end and catch a "cameo" by Aristide while he was still just a rebel priest. Note: If you have read Danticat's The Farming of Bones, you will find this novel to be much more mainstream in its narrative structure. This may be a better first book to read by Danticat, as The Farming of Bones is less straightforward.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An insightful story., March 10, 2002
By Diane "dianemax" (Newfoundland, Canada) - See all my reviews
I enjoyed this book and the depth to which the author delves in order to allow us to have a glimpse into the life of a Haitian woman. Sophie is at the heart of this novel and we see her growing up with her aunt, in Haiti, while her mother lives in the U.S. Suddenly, Sophie is called for, by her mother, and she must go to a country that is foreign to her and live with a woman she doesn't know. Sophie then learns the truth about her birth and the trauma that her mother has endured for years while at the same time learning to become a woman in her own right.

The only flaw I can find in this book is that more character development was needed. I wanted to learn more about the aunt that raised her and the relationship between Sophie and her mother was never fully examined.

The writing however was beautiful and I enjoyed that aspect of it immensely. Danticat makes each of us realize that family can give us much strength but we need to make the change within ourself in order to become a stronger person. Sometimes a cycle within a family needs to be broken. Thankfully Sophie realizes this power and seizes it.

Definitely a novel worth the read.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Expecting more...
I was hesitant to read this book since it was an Oprah Book Club pick. Sometimes her books are very deep and thought inspiring and, while that is a good thing, I wasn't looking... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Johnna M. Helmers

5.0 out of 5 stars Haitian horror story
"Breath, Eyes, Memory" is the story of a young Haitian girl, Sophie, whose mother travels to New York when her daughter is very young, leaving Sophie in the care of her Tante... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Melissa Niksic

5.0 out of 5 stars Great novel
This is a great novel about the diaspora of a Haitian girl to the US. Beautifully written, is the story of how mother and daughter come to terms in the new environment. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Christiane F. Alcant

5.0 out of 5 stars A story that transcends its setting
Danticat's novel is written in a fluent style with a simple vocabulary. Although she won't send readers digging through their dictionaries, "Breath, Eyes, Memory" will string your... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Maxwell J. Asciutto

3.0 out of 5 stars Good start, fair finish
"Breath, Eyes, Memory".....first part was very good. Second part not so good. The rest went downhill.
I thought the story would focus more on Sophie's childhood. Read more
Published on July 12, 2007 by Fuzzy Lizard

5.0 out of 5 stars ENJOYED IT IMMENSELY
This book tells of a girl named Sophie who is raised in Haiti by her aunt Tante Atie, and later goes to New York to spend time with her mother. Read more
Published on January 25, 2007 by Dawn Dellarocco

5.0 out of 5 stars I Read This Book Some Years Ago...
and while I dont remember every point of the story, I DO remember the emotion that I was flooded with in every chapter. Especially towards the end. Read more
Published on November 25, 2006 by IsSoUKnow

4.0 out of 5 stars Sad, Redeeming, True
This first novel adapts a simple, understated tone that is almost too sparse in places and also verges on highly emotional purple prose. Read more
Published on September 30, 2006 by John Sollami

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing - moving
I am in the midst of reading all of Danticat's work, and this is by far my favorite (so far). I can't remember the last time I cried so hard from a book - it is incredibly moving.
Published on September 13, 2006 by KWL

3.0 out of 5 stars A Glimse of Life in Haiti
Sophie Caco is a young girl being raised by her aunt, "Tante Atie," in the impoverished village of Croix-des-Rosets, Haiti. Read more
Published on July 12, 2006 by Sandra D. Peters

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