UB Libraries Book Group discussion

Hello All, and apologies for the delay in starting this discussion -- the holiday threw me off!

I'm not sure where to start so first a few thoughts. I found the writing so lyrical and the imagery so vivid that I really got caught up in the stories. The structure of the stories moving between characters and interwoven so closely with each other reminded me of how the author used water through many of the stories as well. There was one quote that jumped out at me that "...the sea does not hide dirt. It does not keep secrets."

A few topics to kick off discussion:
Any comments on the rather large secrets concealed in this small community and how the radio station is pivotal in revealing secrets (and as a physical location central to several characters).

Thoughts on how birth and death are so intertwined in many of the stories.

Apparently, the idea of giving up your children in hopes of a better future for them is not uncommon in Haiti. What do you think Claire Limye Lanme's future holds? Here's a recent-ish article on Haiti orphanages : http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/wor...

I had heard the first chapter introducing Claire read on Selected Shorts on public radio a while ago and it sounded great. Lyrical, as you so nicely put it, Kathy. Has anybody listened to this as an audiobook? I read the rest of it in print and really enjoyed it, though it was about people in very sad circumstances for the most part.

There was a lot of overlap in things that happened to and connected the characters. But it seemed natural because it was rather a small community. The thing that struck me was that it seemed sort of timeless, that is not of any determinate time period. Perhaps this was because it was in a rural setting. In the beginning, I spent some time wondering when it was set, but then gave that up pretty quickly. So towards the end when the boy was playing a game on a cell phone, it sort of shocked me. I just didn't think it was that contemporary. That was probably due to the cultural aspects that were so foreign to me, like giving your child up so she could have a better life. I could not wrap my mind around that one.

I agree with you both, Kath and Ellen, on the writing style - I enjoyed it too. And the cultural differences made me think quite a bit. I really liked the connection that Claire tries to keep with the mother she never knew, and her eagerness to hear anything she could about her. I had a feeling at the end of the book that Claire would continue to live with her father, that he wouldn't have to give her up because the shopkeeper would likely live with them. Too optimistic perhaps.

That's so interesting that you mentioned the time period, Ellen -- I agree that it felt timeless. Maybe with the radio being so prominent it gave me a slightly past time feeling.

These people did seem to have a lot of sorrow in their lives (much due to poverty?) but always kept moving forward anyway (except for Max Jr., I guess).

Being such a small community I kept wondering how it could potentially have been different if not for a few events. Like Gaelle's husband's murder (who did that btw?); if he hadn't been killed, Gaelle wouldn't have sent soldiers to avenge the death, Bernard wouldn't have died... would Max Jr's life/death have been different? I can't remember time-wise if that would have affected the rape of Flore?

It's the first book I've read by her but think I will be checking out some others.

I listened to the book in an audiobook format. It definitely lends itself to the lyrical definition.
I liked the story but as mentioned, was saddened by the circumstances and the choices people were forced to make as a result of them.
Interestingly enough, Malcolm Gladwell, mentioned in his lecture here at UB, that his mom was originally from Haiti. How it was by lucky happenstance that she received a scholarship or she would not have been able to raise herself out of the poverty of her area.

I wondered about Gaelle's husband's death as well. He was shot point blank in the heart as Bernard was. Almost too much of a coincidence with it being a fiction.
I believe Flore was raped before Bernard was arrested. Max Jr. was sent out of the country several weeks after the event, when she realized she was pregnant. I think Max,Jr. was trying to prove to himself or explore whether he was gay. Not a good way at all.
Max Jr. left the same day that Bernard was arrested.

Lori, I came away hopeful that Claire could remain with her dad as well.

re: Gaelle's husband's death: I'm thinking the same men were hired to kill him that killed Bernard but wasn't sure who would have hired them. Probably the the gangs?

And thanks for the clarification, Becky, on the time frame of the rape; I couldn't remember and have already returned the book. Guess that terrible event wouldn't have been changed if Bernard lived. The author made that a very dramatic and difficult event to read with the storm raging throughout as well.

It never even occurred to me that Claire might be able to stay with her father, or even to hope it could happen.

I assumed that the gangster leader either shot Gaelle's husband or arranged to have it done. At the end of The Frogs chapter the rise of the gangs was marked: "People immediately began to declare that his shooting was related to a new, urgent plague in Ville Rose, one that was even deadlier than the frogs: gangs." I knew that was a turning point in the story and it definitely was -- and not for the better.

Speaking of the frogs, that part was interesting, the way Laurent would bury all the dead frogs. And then when she ate the dead frog, it apparently somehow healed her child in her womb. Because her daughter was born healthy, not disabled as predicted. Did I understand that correctly? I wonder if the symbolism of the frogs is cultural also?

I thought the frogs were interesting, too, Ellen, and also thought that swallowing the frog somehow protected/healed her child.

I just poked around the web a bit on Haiti and frogs and it looks like they are very endangered there (and some species considered extinct) due to the deforestation. Symbolism-wise, I saw references to fertility and transition/change in some African and Caribbean cultures, both of which would actually apply here, I think.

I thought Claire would offer to go live with Gaelle. But that her father would not leave, and would visit with her periodically.
I found the frog reference odd. In that I didn't understand why it was there. I didn't connect the frog being eaten with the protection of Gaelle's child, but after reading your posts, Kathy and Ellen, I do see the connection.

Has anybody read other books by this author? I have not, but I would be interested to hear reactions from others to her earlier works.

I haven't yet but think I will check out her memoir (Brother, I'm Dying). Seems her parents left Haiti for the US when she was 2yo, she lived with her aunt and uncle until she was 12 and then was sent to NY to join her parents. The book also discusses the treatment of her uncle as he tried to seek asylum in the US; a tragic story that made headlines in 2004: http://www.sptimes.com/2004/11/19/Wor...