Summary and Reviews of Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat

Media Reviews

New York Times Book Review Ms. Danticat's clarity of vision takes on the resonance of folk art. Extraordinarily ambitious extraordinarily successful.

The Boston Globe Magic illuminates the beauty and family life of Haiti in a way no news report has done.

Washington Post Book World A novel that rewards the reader again and again with small but exquisite and unforgettable epiphanies.

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....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.

Library Journal - Marie F Jones The book's strength lies in the rarity of its Haitian viewpoint, a voice seldom heard in American literature. However, the writing itself falls a bit flat. The characters and plot are interesting, but the narrative style doesn't evoke the emotional response that would seem appropriate to the action. Danticat is herself a 24-year-old Haitian American who, like the novel's narrator, came to the United States in her early teens to join her family. Her first novel shows promise of better works in the future. Recommended for larger fiction collections.