As a child, acclaimed author Edwidge Danticat was terrified by the Carnival festivities in Haiti, thanks to an uncle whose stories scared her away. But in 2002 she returned home to Haiti exorcise her Carnival demons once and for all, determined to understand the lure of this famed event. In the coastal town of Jacmel she meets with the performers, artists, and organizers who re-create the myths and legends that bring the festival to life, and in the process, traces the heroic and tragic history of the island, from French colonists and Haitian revolutionaries to American invaders and home-grown dictators. Part travelogue, part memoir, part historical analysis, this is the deeply personal journey of a writer rediscovering her country, along with a part of herself--and a wonderful introduction to Haiti's southern coast and to the beauty and passions of Carnival.
