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courtneyajw's review against another edition
4.0
As a teenage, Edwidge Dannicat was one of my favorite authors. I must have read [b:Breath, Eyes, Memory|5186|Breath, Eyes, Memory |Edwidge Danticat|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1401207512s/5186.jpg|459447] and [b:The Dew Breaker|31116|The Dew Breaker|Edwidge Danticat|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388240903s/31116.jpg|2901] a hundred times each. [b:Claire of the Sea Light|16280051|Claire of the Sea Light|Edwidge Danticat|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1367256761s/16280051.jpg|22381420] reminds me of what I love so much about her writing style, her stories and her characters. Danticat writes with a delicacy that is rare now. Her stories are never over written, there is no long, heavy prose to follow for pages on end without punctuation. The writing is sweet and light. The story tells itself, the characters let us learn about them slowly and gradually. There's no dump of description of emotion even when a revelation comes suddenly.
This is the story of a small village by the sea - Ville Rose. The inhabitants range from the destitute and poor like Claire and her father Nozias, to the wealthy like the school owner Max Ardin Senior and his son Max Ardin Junior. All of the characters are linked together in various ways and depend on each other in other ways. Claire has spent the seven short years of her life trying to get to know who her mother was and her father has spent the same time mourning his dead wife and attempting to give Claire a better life by giving her away. There is the sad story of rape and the child produced by it. A scorned woman who has little to combat her former lover who wields a masculine hand to make her life difficult and humiliate her. It's the story of death - falling prey to the gangs and easy pay off of the police. Surviving loss. Attempting to prove that men are men above all.
The intertwined stories are all sad and uplifting at the same time. I would definitely recommend this and anything else by Danticat.
This is the story of a small village by the sea - Ville Rose. The inhabitants range from the destitute and poor like Claire and her father Nozias, to the wealthy like the school owner Max Ardin Senior and his son Max Ardin Junior. All of the characters are linked together in various ways and depend on each other in other ways. Claire has spent the seven short years of her life trying to get to know who her mother was and her father has spent the same time mourning his dead wife and attempting to give Claire a better life by giving her away. There is the sad story of rape and the child produced by it. A scorned woman who has little to combat her former lover who wields a masculine hand to make her life difficult and humiliate her. It's the story of death - falling prey to the gangs and easy pay off of the police. Surviving loss. Attempting to prove that men are men above all.
The intertwined stories are all sad and uplifting at the same time. I would definitely recommend this and anything else by Danticat.
lizaroo71's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting glimpse into various aspects of life in Haiti.
dude_watchin_with_the_brontes's review against another edition
3.0
This was a beautiful book. I think I may be too young for it, even though I'm not really that young, just because I think this would have meant a lot more to me if I knew what it felt like to have a child or to be deeply in love.
The narrator, Robin Miles, was quite good as well.
The narrator, Robin Miles, was quite good as well.
jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
I had bought this book awhile ago, but after seeing the devastation of Hurricane Matthew, it moved to the top of my reading list
This book isn't written--it's woven, with strands of different lives in the Haitian town of Ville Rose coming together to shape the destiny of little Claire Limye Lanme, whose mother died at her birth and whose father must leave town in order to find work.
The first four chapters begin on Claire's birthdays, which also happen to be anniversaries of the deaths of her mother, as well as the husband of the fabric seller, Gaelle, and--seven years later--her only daughter, Rose. Birth and death are woven into the matting, but Danticat intends to bring to life the people of Haiti here, not merely celebrate tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy. She honors her native land in this effort.
I'm not sure how young I would share this with readers. It is well written: simple in language, complex in idea. Claire is about ten, but there are themes of gang violence, police misconduct and sexuality that are probably best left for high-school age and older.
In the end, we learn very little about Claire, but we learn a lot about Haiti, and that makes the book worthwhile.
This book isn't written--it's woven, with strands of different lives in the Haitian town of Ville Rose coming together to shape the destiny of little Claire Limye Lanme, whose mother died at her birth and whose father must leave town in order to find work.
The first four chapters begin on Claire's birthdays, which also happen to be anniversaries of the deaths of her mother, as well as the husband of the fabric seller, Gaelle, and--seven years later--her only daughter, Rose. Birth and death are woven into the matting, but Danticat intends to bring to life the people of Haiti here, not merely celebrate tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy. She honors her native land in this effort.
I'm not sure how young I would share this with readers. It is well written: simple in language, complex in idea. Claire is about ten, but there are themes of gang violence, police misconduct and sexuality that are probably best left for high-school age and older.
In the end, we learn very little about Claire, but we learn a lot about Haiti, and that makes the book worthwhile.
greglhoward's review against another edition
3.0
Wonderful story-telling. It felt like a glimpse into many people's slightly connected lives. But it felt like every character deserved a bit more depth. And just as it was for the characters, Haiti was described beautifully, but without detail, and felt a bit too generic. It was also a bit disappointing it didn't all tie together a bit tighter at the end.
bookofcinz's review against another edition
3.0
Set in Ville Rose Claire of the Sea Light is about mostly about Claire, her father, the town, grief, and what it means to be a parent. Claire’s mother died while giving birth to her, so on her birthday she usually “celebrate” by going with her father to her mother’s grave. With the death of his wife, fisherman Nozias must now figure out how to give his daughter the life she deserves.
Nozias did not attend school, and is barely getting by as a fisherman, he wants to give Claire the life he’s never had and figured the only way to do this is to give her away to a woman who lost her child. On Claire’s seventh birthday the woman shows up to collect Claire, but Nozias is not sure if he is able to do so, Claire ends up running away.
On the night that Mme Gaelle visits Nozias to finally adopt Claire she gives him the ultimatum, either I get Claire tonight, or the deal is off. Gaelle knows about grief, she knows about not getting to say goodbye to the ones she loved. With the sudden death of her husband and daughter Gaelle is left alone to grief and wonder about her karma.
Grief seems to be the ongoing theme through this book as we hear about Bernard Dorien, Max Ardin Junior and Senior, and the town’s undertaker and mayor- Albert Vincent. These Ville Rose residents are each linked to Nozias and his daughter Claire is a loose way, they all have their ghosts they have to deal with.
I have to be honest, this was not my favourite Danitcat novel and it pains me to say this. I felt the book did not do a great job of putting Claire at the forefront as a character. The book ended and I still did not have a vivid picture of who Claire is, her motivations etc. I felt the book would have worked better as a collection of short stories because that’s how read. While I did enjoy the plot lines of the other characters, I still kept on going back to… “when are we gonna hear more from Claire?” and that never happened.
Regardless of the above, Danticat still was able to keep the interested by weaving and pulling together characters and plotlines that held you. I really enjoyed seeing how the town of Ville Rose was held to together by the undertaker and mayor- which is so hilarious to me.
While this is not my favorite read, I did enjoy the book.
Nozias did not attend school, and is barely getting by as a fisherman, he wants to give Claire the life he’s never had and figured the only way to do this is to give her away to a woman who lost her child. On Claire’s seventh birthday the woman shows up to collect Claire, but Nozias is not sure if he is able to do so, Claire ends up running away.
On the night that Mme Gaelle visits Nozias to finally adopt Claire she gives him the ultimatum, either I get Claire tonight, or the deal is off. Gaelle knows about grief, she knows about not getting to say goodbye to the ones she loved. With the sudden death of her husband and daughter Gaelle is left alone to grief and wonder about her karma.
Grief seems to be the ongoing theme through this book as we hear about Bernard Dorien, Max Ardin Junior and Senior, and the town’s undertaker and mayor- Albert Vincent. These Ville Rose residents are each linked to Nozias and his daughter Claire is a loose way, they all have their ghosts they have to deal with.
I have to be honest, this was not my favourite Danitcat novel and it pains me to say this. I felt the book did not do a great job of putting Claire at the forefront as a character. The book ended and I still did not have a vivid picture of who Claire is, her motivations etc. I felt the book would have worked better as a collection of short stories because that’s how read. While I did enjoy the plot lines of the other characters, I still kept on going back to… “when are we gonna hear more from Claire?” and that never happened.
Regardless of the above, Danticat still was able to keep the interested by weaving and pulling together characters and plotlines that held you. I really enjoyed seeing how the town of Ville Rose was held to together by the undertaker and mayor- which is so hilarious to me.
While this is not my favorite read, I did enjoy the book.
litagentsaritza's review against another edition
3.0
Love how the stories weave into each other and the backdrop of Haiti is almost its own character. Got a little lost a few times with such a large cast of characters but enjoyed getting to know each of them.
tempestades_y_belleza's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
shipra_chauhan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
rebecca_w93's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0