Haiti Noir
In 2004, the Brooklyn-based independent publisher Akashic Books released 鈥淏rooklyn Noir,鈥� a collection of all-new crime stories, each set in a different neighborhood of the borough. 鈥淏rooklyn Noir鈥� won readers and awards, and spawned 鈥淏rooklyn Noir 2: The Classics,鈥� then 鈥�Chicago Noir,鈥� 鈥�San Francisco Noir,鈥� and 鈥淒.C. Noir.鈥� 鈥�Dublin Noir鈥� was the first book in the series to leave the borders of the US.
Although crime-fiction stars like Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos have edited previous volumes in the series, with Haiti Noir Edwidge Danticat becomes the first of the series鈥檚 editors to have made her name as a mainstream literary author. (Coming up are 鈥�Lagos Noir鈥� from Chris Abani and 鈥�New Jersey Noir鈥� from Joyce Carole Oates.) Though best known as the author of melancholy, well-crafted works of fiction, Danticat is also the editor of the anthology 鈥淭he Butterfly鈥檚 Way,鈥� and three contributors to that book also appear in this one.
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Haiti has been the subject of more than its share of lurid narratives. In her introduction to 鈥淗aiti Noir,鈥� Danticat discusses some of the 鈥渄ark tales鈥� that emerged from Haiti during the US Marine occupation of 1915-34. Books like 鈥淭he Magic Island鈥� by William Seabrook and 鈥淰oodoo Fire in Haiti鈥� did their part to create a persistent image of Haiti as a land of zombies and cannibals.
By focusing on tales of crime and cruelty, 鈥淗aiti Noir鈥� might be expected to generate more of the same. But Danticat maintains that if 鈥渕ind-blowing and sometimes bone-chilling鈥� stories are to be written about Haiti, they should be written by Haitians themselves. Of the 18 stories in this collection, all but two are written by Haitians, though many of them live in the diaspora. Madison Smartt Bell and Mark Kurlansky, white Americans with a deep knowledge of the country, are given the honor of inclusion.
Danticat tells us that she began working on this anthology about a year before the devastating earthquake of January 2010. She includes three tales that focus on that historic disaster, and chooses two of them to begin and end the book. In 鈥淥dette,鈥� by Patrick Sylvain, a grandmother in a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince survives the destruction only to become the target of the fears and suspicions of her neighbors. In 鈥淭he Harem,鈥� by Ibi Aanu Zoboi, a charming lady鈥檚 man with three lovers has a twisted response when he loses two of them in the quake. And in 鈥淭he Blue Hill,鈥� by Rodney Saint-脡loi, the earthquake comes as the final blow of what is already an apocalyptic scene brought on by the dumping of chemicals and an outbreak of blue pustules.
Unlike other volumes in the series, 鈥淗aiti Noir鈥� features few stories of mystery and detection. One exception is 鈥淒angerous Crossroads,鈥� by Louis-Philippe Dalembert, a satisfying police procedural about a veteran police detective and a series of strangely deformed corpses.
For all the drama and violence in this book, some of its most effective stories focus on quieter losses. Populated by slaves (after the indigenous Taino Indians succumbed to European diseases), Haiti began as a land of displaced people and has remained a hard land to thrive in. 鈥淢igration is such an integral part of the Haitian experience,鈥� writes Danticat, 鈥渢hat those living outside of the country were once designated as part of a 鈥榯enth department,鈥� an ideological auxiliary to Haiti鈥檚 first geographical nine.鈥�
Within Haiti itself, survival sometimes requires internal exile. Some of these stories refer to restaveks, or children whose parents are driven by poverty to send them away to work as domestic servants for richer families. Restaveks may be abused, deprived of education, or even raped. In 鈥淩osanna,鈥� by Josaphat-Robert Large, a wealthy woman who owns a boutique in the capital takes in a boy as a restavek, and although she treats him well the decision ends in tragedy. In 鈥淲hich One?,鈥� by Evelyne Trouillot, a mother contemplates a deception that would send her daughter to Brooklyn in hopes of a better life.
Danticat鈥檚 own story may be the highlight of this collection. In 鈥淐laire of the Sea Light,鈥� a fisherman鈥檚 wife dies while giving birth to their daughter, Claire. Gaspard, the father, raises the child but is constantly haunted by the sense that he is inadequate to the task. Though the love between Gaspard and Claire is strong, Gaspard devotes years to convincing a woman who sells fabric to become the girl鈥檚 godmother 鈥� in fact, to take her away and raise her. It is a heartbreaking story, and when Gaspard finally succeeds, the result is more heartbreaking yet.
Geoff Wisner is the author of 鈥淎 Basket of Leaves: 99 Books that Capture the Spirit of Africa.鈥�
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