First published 2004
The dew breaker once worked as a torturer during the Duvalier dictatorship in Haiti. Now he lives in America with his wife and daughter, desperately trying to conceal his brutal past. His victims also live in America, carrying memories that replay like films before their eyes. The novel moves between Haiti and America through interconnected stories told from different perspectives. Each narrative forms a puzzle piece that gradually reveals the central character from multiple angles. The dew breaker exists like a ghost among Haitian immigrants who might recognize him, while his own family remains unaware of his crimes. Violence, torture, and murder from the 1960s dictatorship continue to haunt both perpetrator and survivors. Even migration to a new country cannot erase the suffering etched into bodies and souls. The stories explore how the past refuses to stay buried, creating fresh pain in American settings for both the torturer seeking redemption and his victims seeking peace.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: past-haunts-present, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Haiti, America
Period: 1960s, Contemporary
248 pages · Hardcover · W F Howes Ltd
Content warnings: torture, violence