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Start giftingWhat Storm, What Thunder
A Novel
Bookseller recommendation
“What Storm, What Thunder is a lyrical exploration of the disastrous 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the people it impacted most. Readers will hear from people who will emerge from the earthquake physically unscathed, from those who will lose their lives, and from those who will lose everything but: a queer sex worker, a wealthy expat businessman, an errand boy, a young female architect, an elderly market woman, and many more. Chancy provides unflinching depictions of camp life—and death—in the aftermath and shines light on the misguided recovery effort and shameful media coverage. This is a must-read.”
— Mary • Raven Book Store
Summary
The audiobook edition of What Storm, What Thunder includes an exclusive introduction from author Myriam Chauncy about the 2010 earthquake in Haiti that inspired this novel, as well as the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti earlier this year. In her own voice and signature poignant and vivid prose, Myriam reflects on her efforts to humanize a catastrophe and provide listeners with a means to understand the incredible strength and spirit of a nation in crisis.
“Sublime. A striking and formidable novel by one of our most brilliant writers and storytellers.” — Edwidge Danticat
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.
At the end of a long, sweltering day, as markets and businesses begin to close for the evening, 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. Artfully weaving together these lives, witness is given to the desolation wreaked by nature and by man.
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.