Availability:
Library | Call Number | Format | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Abington Public Library | FIC CHA | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Brockton Public Library | CHANCY | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Cohasset Paul Pratt Memorial Library | CHANCY | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Hanover John Curtis Free Library | CHANCY | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Hingham Public Library | CHA | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Milton Public Library | FIC CHANCY | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Plymouth Public Library | CHA | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Quincy Thomas Crane Library | CHANCY | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Sandwich Public Library | FICTION CHANCY | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Sharon Public Library | CHANCY, MYRIAM | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Stoughton Public Library | FIC CHA | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Walpole Public Library | CHANCY 2021 | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Weymouth Tufts Library | CHANCY | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Whitman Public Library | CHANCY | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
At the end of a long, sweltering day, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster--Richard, an expat and wealthy water-bottling executive with a secret daughter; the daughter, Anne, an architect who drafts affordable housing structures for a global NGO; a small-time drug trafficker, Leopold, who pines for a beautiful call girl; Sonia and her business partner, Dieudonné, who are followed by a man they believe is the vodou spirit of death; Didier, an emigrant musician who drives a taxi in Boston; Sara, a mother haunted by the ghosts of her children in an IDP camp; her husband, Olivier, an accountant forced to abandon the wife he loves; their son, Jonas, who haunts them both; and Ma Lou, the old woman selling produce in the market who remembers them all.
Brilliantly crafted, fiercely imagined, and deeply haunting, What Storm, What Thunder is a singular, stunning record, a reckoning of the heartbreaking trauma of disaster, and--at the same time--an unforgettable testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti provides the backdrop for the extraordinary latest from Chancy (The Loneliness of Angels). "The earth had buckled and, in that movement, all that was not in its place fell upon the earth's children, upon the blameless as well as the guilty, without discrimination," remembers survivor Ma Lou, a market woman. Multilayered, lyrical, and told by 10 people affected by the disaster, all connected by blood or friendship, Chancy's dazzling take considers a myriad of topics including sexual violence, racism, a dysfunctional government, and capitalism. There's Ma Lou's estranged, wealthy water executive son, Richard, who returns to Haiti on a business trip from Paris just before the earthquake, and drowns while having an anti-capitalist epiphany; Richard's daughter, Anne, an architect working in Rwanda who returns to help after the quake; Taffia, 15, who lives for much of the year in a displaced persons camp, where she is raped and gets pregnant; and Didier, her brother, an undocumented cab driver in Boston who is often stiffed and sometimes beaten by his fares due to his skin color. Didier hears about the tragedy on NPR and wishes he could know if his family are safe while feeling guilty for pursuing his own life. There are many endings, with shifting fortunes and stories involving vodou, and it all coheres with a poignant mission involving Ma Lou and Anne four years after the earthquake. Each of the voices entrances, thanks to Chancy's beautiful prose and rich themes. This is not to be missed. (Oct.)
Booklist Review
The January 2010 earthquake in Haiti was global news because of the scale of the tragedy. In this remarkable novel, Chancy reminds us that the headlines and statistics were but part of the story of death and destruction. By giving voice to distinct individuals, Chancy creates, in each chapter, another layer of insight into this island community before and after. The story of Sara, Ma Lou, Sonia, Richard, Anne, and Olivier root the grief and trauma in lost loves and laughter; and they all add up to commentary on disaster management in a postcolonial world. Chancy draws us in with story lines that illuminate the social hierarchy of Port-au-Prince, glimpses of market life, and various neighborhood experiences, taking us through physical and emotional suffering to track generational loss in art, business, and developmental work. In her intricate tale of how the tragedy is multiplied by systemic social failures that follow the earthquake, Chancy examines the difficult question of how people move past grief of this magnitude, personally and collectively. Every element of the writing and characterization delivers a poignant experience.