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The Dew Breaker (Hardcover)

by Edwidge Danticat (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (Mar 9 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400041147
ISBN-13: 978-1400041145
Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 15 x 2.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 363 g

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #373,160 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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#12 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > African American > Danticat, Edwidge

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Haitian-born Danticat's third novel (after The Farming of Bones and Breath, Eyes, Memory) focuses on the lives affected by a "dew breaker," or torturer of Haitian dissidents under Duvalier's regime. Each chapter reveals the titular man from another viewpoint, including that of his grown daughter, who, on a trip she takes with him to Florida, learns the secret of his violent past and those of the Haitian boarders renting basement rooms in his Brooklyn home. This structure allows Danticat to move easily back and forth in time and place, from 1967 Haiti to present-day Florida, tracking diverse threads within the larger narrative. Some readers may think that what she gains in breadth she loses in depth; this is a slim book, and Danticat does not always stay in one character's mind long enough to fully convey the complexities she seeks. The chapters—most of which were published previously as stories, with the first three appearing in the New Yorker—can feel more like evocative snapshots than richly textured portraits. The slow accumulation of details pinpointing the past's effects on the present makes for powerful reading, however, and Danticat is a crafter of subtle, gorgeous sentences and scenes. As the novel circles around the dew breaker, moving toward final episodes in which, as a young man and already dreaming of escape to the U.S., he performs his terrible work, the impact on the reader hauntingly, ineluctably grows.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Three Haitian women living in New York drink to "the terrible days behind us and the uncertain days ahead," thus succinctly denoting the resonant theme of Danticat's beautifully lucid fourth work of fiction: the baffling legacy of violence and the unanswerable questions of exile. In compelling and richly imagined linked stories of the Haitian diaspora, the author of The Farming of the Bones (1999) portrays the children of parents who either perpetuated or suffered the cruelties of the island's bloody dictatorships, young women and men who struggle to make sense of the madness that poisoned their childhoods. The book's pivotal, and most riveting, sections portray a man who works for the state as a torturer, or "dew breaker," until a catastrophic encounter with a heroic preacher induces him to flee to New York, where his sculptor daughter finally learns of his past under caustically ironic circumstances. Danticat's masterful depiction of the emotional and spiritual reverberations of tyranny and displacement reveals the intricate mesh of relationships that defines every life, and the burden of traumatic inheritances: the crimes and tragedies that one generation barely survives, the next must reconcile. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Customer Reviews

20 Reviews

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific story, Feb 24 2005

By	Edward Tem (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews

The Dew Breaker is a very educational book with unique contradictions in the characters in the story. This is a story about the haunting tale of a man who left Haiti for New York, and still could not leave behind his memory of victimizing. I enjoyed this book to the very end.
I recommend it along with DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE and DISGRACE

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5.0 out of 5 stars DELIGHTFUL READ AND THOUGHTFUL, Jul 11 2004

By	D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very interesting book. A novel, yes, sort of, but I get the impression that is somewhat autobiographical. The prose is concise. While not a novel per se, as it is almost a collection of short stories or sketches of various people as the weave in and out of the life of the book, I don't know what else to call it. The author certainly has a good command of her subject, the writing is easy on the eye and mind. I highly recommend this one and hope we get more like it.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Scarred, Jun 26 2004

By	The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

THE DEW BREAKER is a collection of vignettes featuring characters whose lives intersect mostly as a result of fate. At the heart of the story is a nameless man who is known as "The Dew Breaker." Early in the book his daughter, unaware of his torrid past, creates a sculpture in honor of her father, a Haitian immigrant now working in the U.S. as a successful barber. He carries a menacing scar on his face which is only a superficial representation of his inner turmoil and his unsavory past life in Haiti. Subsequent vignettes provide additional information about "The Dew breaker" from the perspective of his wife, neighbors, boarders and others. With each vignette another layer of this story and the main character's past is uncovered. The ending, while satisfying in a sense, will leave you to consider the moral imperatives that are presented and come to your own conclusions.

Danticat takes us on a series of highs and lows while traveling back and forth through time, from Haiti to the U.S and back. Ultimately, she leaves it up to readers to decide whether the main character is remorseful and seeking redemption or happily basking in the fact that he has gotten away with heinous crimes. While fate is often the impetus that brings the characters together, each of the vignettes and characters ultimately fit together in a synthesis that is both realistic and believable. This is a book filled with intricate nuances and minute complexities that, if overlooked, will prevent some from fully grasping and appreciating this fine work. It is complex, thoughtful, and sure to become a timeless classic.

Edwidge Danticat has done it again. She presents a complex and multi-faceted character driven story that includes keenly executed and descriptive prose. From the first page I was drawn into the story and felt as if I was experiencing things right along with the characters. She provides a well-rounded and empathic look at the varied experiences of some Haitian and Haitian American people. Danticat is a vibrant, young voice that is sure to go down in history as a literary great.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fiction of Haitian Life
Edwidge Danticat is one of the leading Haitian novelists today. This latest book of hers, The Dew Breaker, looks like a novel but is really a collection of closely linked... Read more

Published on Jun 24 2004 by Charles J. Rector

5.0 out of 5 stars A Novel in Stories: A Work of Art
Edwidge Danticat has written a wonderfully crafted novel in stories in her fourth fiction release, The Dew Breaker. Read more

Published on Jun 2 2004 by Dera R Williams

5.0 out of 5 stars Complex and Horrific, but Very Controlled
When I read THE FARMING OF BONES, Edwidge Danticat's second novel, I could see immediately what a truly superlative writer she is. Read more

Published on May 21 2004 by Totally Anonymous

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful and beautiful new novel
Edwidge Danticat's new novel, her third, is right up there with her first, Breath, Eyes, Memory, though very different. It's an elliptical novel, with much mystery. Read more