Harare Review of Books

176 pages.

Expected publication date: Sept 19, 2023 (Red Hen Press)

Fiction anthology.

This is a nice collection of stories about Haitians and Haitian-Americans, with an occasional touch of the supernatural and fantastical. The stories explore love and family, childhood, immigration, poverty, colonialism and the US occupation, prejudice against Haiti and Haitians, racism in the US, and Haitian folklore.

In my favourite story, belly, Arbor has the ability to make a kind of golem from river mud, and she and her creation take delicious revenge on someone who truly deserves it. Another well-written (although somewhat sad) story is The Oldest Sensation is Anger, about really creepy cousins, one of whom has very special powers.

Many of the characters in You Were Watching From the Sand find a way to overcome difficult circumstances, but, very memorably, in We Feel it in Punta Cana, Lamy gives us a down-to-earth story about the dark side of colonial power.

In all, pleasurable and quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Red Hen Press for the ARC.