Dèy

“Edwidge Danticat is an author whose work truly captures the Haitian American immigrant experience with prose that is so languid and all-consuming that one never wants to be released from its grasp. In her first novel in over a decade, she offers a beautiful exploration of migration, gentrification and political instability. . . . A story that allows us to reassess love and grief, Dèy is a novel of now.” —NPR

“In graceful, gimlet-eyed prose, Edwidge Danticat stares down preconceptions of family and belonging, lending her novel propulsion and promise.” —TIME

“A searching work from one of our most gifted and consistent writers.” —The Boston Globe

“The novelist’s duty is to present such questions and then leave the room—to grant the reader space to ponder them. Danticat does this masterfully, particularly regarding the subjects of love and home. . . . Dèy is a love song and an elegy for the Haitian diaspora. It sparkles with adoration for the melodic Kreyòl language, for the celebrations that take place in Miami’s Little Haiti. . . . There is hope, however faint, in this tender novel.” —Imbolo Mbue, The New York Times Book Review

“Edwidge Danticat probes the ideas of safety, home, and survival all while examining the consequences of not speaking about one’s pain.” —Vulture

“Edwidge Danticat’s first novel in over a decade is a pristine account of the slowly unfolding aftereffects of shock.” —New York Magazine

“Danticat is a writer of both nuance and emotional force, and in Déy, she captures both.” —Chicago Review of Books

“As books editors at this magazine, you care about a good turn of phrase. Which books are you excited about, on a sentence level? For me, it’s Dèy, by Edwidge Danticat, also coming August 25th—her first novel in a decade. Danticat’s sentences are amazing.” —Hannah Jocelyn, The New Yorker

“Edwidge Danticat is back (after a decade!) with this powerful narrative of trauma, family and home. I was hooked from the first page . . . it flows beautifully and thoughtfully. With Haitian language and diaspora woven throughout, Dèy is an evocative reflection on contemporary violence and grief.” —Ms. Magazine

“Explores the weight of grief and the levity of community.” —Bustle

“Dèy stands among Danticat’s most affecting works. It is a moving portrait of grief in all its forms—mourning not only people, but neighborhoods, countries, identities and imagined futures. In doing so, Danticat once again demonstrates why she remains an essential voice chronicling not only the Haitian American experience, but American life.” —The Haitian Times

“Loss and mortality have long been themes in the author’s books, along with family, migration, memory and belonging. In Dèy, it is also about people trying to remain connected across distance and to feel rooted in the different places they call home.” —Miami Herald

“Poignant. . . . Danticat’s domestic narrative is deceptive, as we realise that she is writing about something more profound: how violence touches us all, even when it’s on the other side of the world; how children are being taught survival tactics at an increasingly young age; and how solace can be found in ‘dèy’. . . . Tenderly drawn, making for an immersive read. This is a story for our times, a powerful meditation on belonging, the immigrant experience and familial love.” —Financial Times