The Dew Breaker

Edwidge Danticat

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The dew breaker is a quiet man, a husband and father, a hard-working barber, a kindly landlord to the men living in a basement apartment in his home. He is a fixture in his Brooklyn neighbourhood, recognizable by the terrifying scar on his face. But beneath the surface of this American life lies a dangerous truth: the brutal crimes committed in the country of his birth.

As his story unfolds, we enter the lives of those around him: his devoted wife and rebellious daughter, his sometimes unsuspecting, sometimes apprehensive neighbours, tenants, and clients. And in the Haiti of the dew breaker's past, we witness his last, desperate act of violence, and his first encounter with the woman who will offer him a form of redemption-albeit imperfect-that will change him forever . . .

By the author of The Farming of Bones, The Dew Breaker is a wonderful novel of interconnected lives-a book of love, remorse, and hope; of rebellions both personal and political; of the compromises often necessary after the most intimate brushes with history.

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Praise for The Dew Breaker

  • Remarkable...Danticat's most persuasive, organic performance yet. As seamless as it is compelling. - NEW YORK TIMESRiveting... Dandicat leads her readers into the underworld. It's furnished like home. - LOS ANGELES TIMESThe episodic quality beautifully captures the fabric of this community and how it must weave itself together. - SCOTLAND ON SUNDAYThis excellent, unsettling novel is her finest, and a literary gem. - INDEPENDENT

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Edwidge Danticat

Edwidge Danticat

Edwidge Danticat is the author of numerous books, including The Art of Death, a National Book Critics Circle finalist; Claire of the Sea Light, a New York Times Notable Book; Brother, I'm Dying, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and National Book Award finalist; The Dew Breaker, a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and winner of the inaugural Story Prize; The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner; Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah's Book Club selection; and Krik? Krak! also a National Book Award finalist. A 2018 Neustadt International Prize for Literature winner and the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.

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