Edwidge Danticat’s debut novel
Breath, Eyes, Memory(1994) is now an established classic which continues to gain praise from scholars, critics, and readers alike. Danticat started writing the novel when she was still in high school. After finishing an article for a teen New York City newspaper about her departure from Haiti and arrival in the United States, she decided “to write a short story about a young girl who leaves Haiti to come to the United States to be reunited with her mother, who she doesn't really know. The story just grew and grew and as it grew [she] began to weave more and more fictional elements into it and added some themes that concerned [her]” (Danticat 2017, n.p.), becoming a poetic exploration of living in “
dyaspora” (Danticat 2001, xiv)—a twin experience…
2970 words
Citation: Mika, Kasia. "Breath, Eyes, Memory". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 April 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35894, accessed 21 November 2024.]
