Novel set in Haiti (a good dollop of escapism!)

15th April 2020

Island on the Edge of the World by Deborah Rodriguez, novel set in Haiti.

From Deborah Rodriguez, author of the international bestseller The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul, comes this enthralling story of four women who join forces to search for a missing child in the fascinating and frustrating island of Haiti.

We meet Charlie, a young woman who is working as a hairdresser in Northern California in her grandmother Bea’s salon.  Charlie has had an unsettled childhood, as daughter of American missionaries, and has ended up estranged from her mother, April, and her overbearing stepfather, Jim.  Bea, who possesses uncanny psychic powers, dreams that her daughter, April, is in trouble and persuades Charlie to travel with her to Haiti, in the hopes of engineering two mother/daughter reunions. At the airport, they encounter Lisbeth, a Texas widow who has never ventured far from home, but who is travelling to Haiti in hopes of locating a grandchild she never knew existed. And the three eventually join forces with Senzey, a young Haitian woman, who has suffered a great deal of loss in her young life and who has been left with no family or means of existence.

As these four women negotiate their way through the vibrant and confusing city of Port-au-Prince, ably supported by the charming Mackenson, their taxi-driver but also guide, protector and educator, they discover that although Haiti may be poor and troubled, it is a country full of people who are loving and strong and brave.  The women, too, discover that they are all capable of strength and courage that they didn’t know they had.

Rodrigues’ novels seem to specialise in transporting the reader to other locations and this one is no exception.  Island on the Edge of the World really brings Haiti to life and offers a real treat for the senses. We witness the visual spectacle of the bustling and colourful streets, delight in inhaling the smell of exotic flowers and recoil at the many less pleasant smells.  We struggle, with the women, to make sense of the world around them when faced with languages that make no sense and enjoy, with them, the experience of a totally new cuisine.  Rodrigues ensures that the reader is well informed, mainly via the very knowledgeable Mackenson, of the island’s troubled history and of its fascinating culture, including the mysterious tradition of voodoo.

Rodriguez wants the reader to be aware of the effects of the devastating earthquake of 2010, and the plight of the Haitian people, particularly women.  She highlights for us the dangers of well- meaning people who try to help but actually make things worse and shows us very starkly the poverty in which the Haitian people are living and the lengths they have to go to survive, such as prostitution and selling their children.  There are scenes in some of the island’s orphanages that are very upsetting indeed.

Despite its darker moments, this is a fascinating and gripping story, peopled with eccentric and interesting characters.  I particularly enjoyed the outspoken Lisbeth, whose cringe-worthy comments on Haiti and its people added a delightful touch of humour.

In these dismal times, this is just what we need – a great story, entertaining characters and a good dollop of escapism.

Ellen for the TripFiction Team

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