Review: Novel about the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake that will shock you

Myriam Ja Chancy is the author of “What Storm, What Thunder.” Photo: n. Afonso

After reading “What Storm, What Thunder” by Miriam J.A. Chance, in the midst of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, I sat for a while, thinking, holding the book in my hand, and catching my breath. The characters and descriptions are so vivid, complex, and memorable that I expected the book itself to vibrate, crack, and spread its dissonant voices. Many of us are hungry for stories of survival and resilience in this unstable world where Muslim life is disintegrating. This book delivers.

The reader does not have to be familiar with Haiti to absorb the themes and cultural references in this novel. What better way to understand culture than to listen closely to stories from people’s diverse perspectives and experiences? Chancy takes us there with her powerful writing.

This character-driven novel consists of 11 sections each narrating a different character with a distinct voice, except for the first and last part, both of which are narrated by Ma Lu, a market woman, or Sarah convict. Given the essential role that market women play in Haiti as suppliers of food and information, as well as the eyes and ears of the neighborhood, she earns the first and last word: “I watched. This is what old market women do. We watched.”

“What Storm, What Thunder” by Miriam JA Chancy. Photo: the tin house

Sarah, a mother and one of Ma Lou’s clients, loses her daughters in the earthquake. This section, told in the second person, indicates a traumatic dissociation. “She saw but pretended not to see and let them take the bodies of her two young daughters away. They would never dance or move or grow their long hair on their backs.”

We also hear from Jonas, Sarah’s son, who runs errands for Ma Lou; Olivier, an accountant and Sarah’s husband; Sonya, a calling girl; Richard, a wealthy businessman who markets bottled water; his secret daughter Anne, an architect; Leopold, a drug smuggler who desires Sonya; Tavia and Didier, Sonia’s siblings. We’re privy to a wide range of their experiences on January 12th, as well as before and after. We love these characters.

In less skilled hands, a novel with multiple viewpoints can be frustrating, especially when we prefer one voice over another. In “What Storm, What Thunder” I was instantly taken in by every new sound. I was delighted with that small but powerful thrill of recognition when one character reappeared in someone else’s story, deepening my understanding of them and the feeling that we are all connected.

Didier, a musician and taxi driver who lives in the United States and needs to hear about his family in Haiti, says, “But we all look away unless we or someone we love is on fire. You don’t know what congregation you belong to until your house is on fire.”

Chancy’s merciful and harrowing tale reminds us that we are all part of a group.

“What Storm, What Thunder” by Miriam J.A. Chancy (Tin House; 320 pages; $27.95)

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