Growing up in Haiti, Edwidge Danticat kept well clear of carnival—terrified by the stories of danger and debauchery that her uncle told her. Decades later, a grown woman and accomplished author, she returns home to find out what she’s been missing.
In this selection from After the Dance, Danticat fuses her present-day observations with her own childhood memories and weaves a deeply personal reflection on the home she left behind. Through conversations with other attendees and her own deft reporting, she takes readers into the very heart of the festival. A Walk Through Carnival is as much memoir as it is travelogue; and, in these pages, the National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author of Brother, I’m Dying brings the electric spirit of carnival vividly to life.
Growing up in Haiti, Edwidge Danticat kept well clear of carnival—terrified by the stories of danger and debauchery that her uncle told her. Decades later, a grown woman and accomplished author, she returns home to find out what she’s been missing.
In this selection from After the Dance, Danticat fuses her present-day observations with her own childhood memories and weaves a deeply personal reflection on the home she left behind. Through conversations with other attendees and her own deft reporting, she takes readers into the very heart of the festival. A Walk Through Carnival is as much memoir as it is travelogue; and, in these pages, the National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author of Brother, I’m Dying brings the electric spirit of carnival vividly to life.
