“The themes explored in Gay’s nonfiction, such as the transactional nature of violence and the ways in which stereotypes of poverty add another layer of dehumanization, are just as potent here. Readers will find her powerful first book difficult to put down.” - Booklist
Dismantling the glib misconceptions of her complex ancestral home, Gay cuts and thrills. “Highly dimensioned characters and unforgettable moments. . . . Roxane Gay is an award-winning literary voice praised for her fearless and vivid prose, and her debut collection Ayiti exemplifies the raw talent that made her “one of the voices of our age” ( National Post, Canada). And a woman conceives a daughter on the bank of a river while fleeing a horrific massacre, a daughter who later moves to America for a new life but is perpetually haunted by the mysterious scent of blood. A mother takes a foreign soldier into her home as a boarder, and into her bed. A young woman procures a voodoo love potion to ensnare a childhood classmate. In Ayiti, a married couple seeking boat passage to America prepares to leave their homeland. From the New York Times–bestselling author of Hunger and Bad Feminist, a powerful short story collection exploring the Haitian diaspora experience.
