A beautifully written, often poignant and harrowing, collection of short stories by Haitian author Edwidge Danticat. These stories reveal aspects of Haitian life and focus in particular on women’s lives. In the Haitian storytelling tradition the listeners ask, “Krik?” to which the storyteller replies, “Krak!” My favourite story was Children of the Sea, about lovers separated as he makes the hazardous crossing to America in a leaky boat of refugees and she is caught behind in the troubles of Haiti with her family. My only complaint as with all short stories is that they end too rapidly. The audio narration by Robin Miles and Dion Graham was also beautifully done. 4.5 stars for me.

I read this book as part of my read around the world challenge, and if it is a country I know little about I find myself inspired to seek out a few facts. The country of Haiti is the western part of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic making up the eastern part. The island was originally inhabited by the Indigenous Taino people, then was under Spanish rule after Columbus, then became a French colony in 1697. The French brought in African slaves and established plantations. Haiti gained independence in 1804 after a slave revolt. It has had an unstable political climate since, with 32 coups following on from the revolt, and several ruthless dictators such as François and Jean-Claude Duvalier. Then there was the huge earthquake in 2010. Haiti now has a population of 11.4 million, ¾ of whom live on less than US$2 a day. ( )

Right away, you know you are in the presence of a great writer when you read the very first short story of Krik? Krak! In "Children of the Sea" two teenagers who are in love keep journals when they are separated by dictatorship. Danticat keeps the two first person narratives clear by using capitalization and punctuation for one voice but not the other. The educated boy, a member of the Youth Federation, has escaped Haiti on a boat bound for Miami, Florida, while his young love (who does not use capitalization of punctuation) is left behind to endure military abuses. This was probably one of my favorites. Each subsequent story builds upon the next with the tiniest of threads. A minute detail will tie one story back to another.
"Nineteen Thirty-Seven" is a painful story about a woman visiting her mother in prison. Her mother is accused of flying. The government believes she is a witch, capable of rising like a bird on fire.
"A Wall of Fire Rising" tells the short but devastating story of a family barely making ends meet.
"Night Women" demonstrates the lengths a woman will go in order to provide for her child.
"Between the Pool and the Gardenias" is another heartbreaking story about loss.
"The Missing Peace" illuminates innocence abandoned.
"Seeing Things Simply" shares the story of an artist looking for beauty while ugliness crowds all around her.
"New York Day Women" demonstrates just how much a mother's love can suffocate a daughter.
"Caroline's Wedding" weaves a tale of expectation in age old customs.
"Women Like Us" is a message to daughters.
"In the Old Days" is an additional story for the twentieth anniversary edition of Krik? Krak! It tells the story of a woman asked to visit her dying father, a man she has never met. ( )

These stories didn't give me the emotional experience I thought was in store. A few brief tugs on the heartstrings here and there, but at the end of the book I thought, "That's it? That's all she's got?" My suspicion is that these stories have more going on beneath the surface, and if you can decipher the symbolism you'll get a lot more bang from this book. I'm more of a surface reader - I enjoy the actual story being told and am not willing or able to look for extra meaning in a river or a cat or a cloud - and so this book didn't give me much enjoyment at all. ( )

Breathtaking. I find that Danticat creates rich scenes, characters, dialogues, and ideas in her vignettes, but they somehow weave together to create a cohesive story collection. While I typically give short story collections 3 or 4 stars, this one wrapped the stories together, not by character or cohesiveness of plot, but by the beauty of the idea ("Krik?" "Krak!") as a means of how we tell stories about ourselves and our histories. Highly recommended. ( )

These are painful, beautiful stories of families struggling under the reign of the Tonton Macout. Most are set in Haiti; others take place where exiles have sought safety.

Many of the stories show the strain on families in these terrible times: a woman who lives by prostitution prays that her son won't hear the noise from the corner where he sleeps; people attempt escapes on leaky boats; a daughter visits her mother in prison, where she stands accused of witchcraft even after she dies; a woman unable to hold a pregnancy picks up a dead infant left on the street, and pretends the child is simply quiet. Threats are everywhere, and illogical. These are pictures of a country in the midst of trauma, and families trying not to look, not to be targets themselves. ( )