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We're Alone: Essays
A collection of exceptional new essays by one of the most significant contemporary writers on the world stage
Tracing a loose arc from Edwidge Danticat’s childhood to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in Haiti, the essays gathered in We’re Alone include personal narrative, reportage, and tributes to mentors and heroes such as Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Gabriel García Márquez, and James Baldwin that explore several abiding environmental catastrophe, the traumas of colonialism, motherhood, and the complexities of resilience.
From hurricanes to political violence, from her days as a new student at a Brooklyn elementary school knowing little English to her account of a shooting hoax at a Miami mall, Danticat has an extraordinary ability to move from the personal to the global and back again. Throughout, literature and art prove to be her reliable companions and guides in both tragedies and triumphs.
Danticat is an irresistible presence on the full of heart, outrage, humor, clear thinking, and moral questioning, while reminding us of the possibilities of community. And so “we’re alone” is both a fearsome admission and an intimate invitation—we’re alone now, we can talk. We’re Alone is a book that asks us to think through some of the world’s intractable problems while deepening our understanding of one of the most significant novelists at work today.
Tracing a loose arc from Edwidge Danticat’s childhood to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in Haiti, the essays gathered in We’re Alone include personal narrative, reportage, and tributes to mentors and heroes such as Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Gabriel García Márquez, and James Baldwin that explore several abiding environmental catastrophe, the traumas of colonialism, motherhood, and the complexities of resilience.
From hurricanes to political violence, from her days as a new student at a Brooklyn elementary school knowing little English to her account of a shooting hoax at a Miami mall, Danticat has an extraordinary ability to move from the personal to the global and back again. Throughout, literature and art prove to be her reliable companions and guides in both tragedies and triumphs.
Danticat is an irresistible presence on the full of heart, outrage, humor, clear thinking, and moral questioning, while reminding us of the possibilities of community. And so “we’re alone” is both a fearsome admission and an intimate invitation—we’re alone now, we can talk. We’re Alone is a book that asks us to think through some of the world’s intractable problems while deepening our understanding of one of the most significant novelists at work today.
157 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 3, 2024
69 people are currently reading
4992 people want to read
About the author
Edwidge Danticat
133 books2,780 followersEdwidge Danticat is a Haitian American novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory, was published in 1994 and went on to become an Oprah's Book Club selection. Danticat has since written or edited several books and has been the recipient of many awards and honors. Her work has dealt with themes of national identity, mother-daughter relationships, and diasporic politics. In 2023, she was named the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities in the department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
November 21, 2024
An intelligent and meditative collection of essays.
July 11, 2025
Haunting, reflective, meandering, engaging and unforgettable
There is something about Edwidge Danticat’s writing that just pulls you in and this collection of essays is no different. The collection of essay is divided into two parts, each with four essays and all sheds a light on Danticat’s inner world which includes being Haitian.
The collection focuses on Haiti and Haitians starting with a historical look at the country but it is also a lot more than that. Edwidge Danticat takes us into her world, what it was like growing up in Haiti, leaving and going back and how that impacts her as a writer. I loved how she takes us through some of the big moments in Haiti from a deeply personal perspective. We learn about the assassination of the President, to the hurricane and earthquake that struck the island and its devasting impact.
I loved hearing about Danticat’s family, her views on motherhood, being a daughter and Haitian in the world. As someone who is a big fan of her writing, it was good getting some background on the books I have read from her. We even got a whole reading list from her- which I loved! What Danticat does in this collection is showcases how she can go from a personal story and then situates it through a global lens. She did this through the essay that explored the COVID-19 pandemic, speaking on how it affected her, her community and the diaspora in general.
The thing I love about Danitcat’s writing is how Haiti is always at the forefront. There is always a history lesson, and I learned a lot more Haiti, for example:
1. Did you know about the town called Fond-Des-Blancs which means Fountain of Whites is home to a large number of people of Polish lineage. They were granted Haitian citizenship after they became the first republic in 1804.
2. The Centers of Disease Control named four groups high risk for AIDS and Haitians were the only ones solely identified by nationality.
3. The assassination of the President, I learnt so much about how that came to be and all the conspiracy theories behind this.
4. The kidnapping of the Christian missionaries, and the churches purchasing guns to protect themselves.
The collection also pinpoints a lot of Caribbean islands including Grenada, Dominican Republic and Dominica. Her speaking about Dominica and how she wanted to visit the island for numerous reasons really made my heart smile.
Last, I loved getting a look into her world as a writer. She gave a talk to some students who asked her which is harder to writer, the beginning or the end? Her answer was so unexpected but made so much sense.
A beautiful collection of essays that more people need to read.
There is something about Edwidge Danticat’s writing that just pulls you in and this collection of essays is no different. The collection of essay is divided into two parts, each with four essays and all sheds a light on Danticat’s inner world which includes being Haitian.
The collection focuses on Haiti and Haitians starting with a historical look at the country but it is also a lot more than that. Edwidge Danticat takes us into her world, what it was like growing up in Haiti, leaving and going back and how that impacts her as a writer. I loved how she takes us through some of the big moments in Haiti from a deeply personal perspective. We learn about the assassination of the President, to the hurricane and earthquake that struck the island and its devasting impact.
I loved hearing about Danticat’s family, her views on motherhood, being a daughter and Haitian in the world. As someone who is a big fan of her writing, it was good getting some background on the books I have read from her. We even got a whole reading list from her- which I loved! What Danticat does in this collection is showcases how she can go from a personal story and then situates it through a global lens. She did this through the essay that explored the COVID-19 pandemic, speaking on how it affected her, her community and the diaspora in general.
The thing I love about Danitcat’s writing is how Haiti is always at the forefront. There is always a history lesson, and I learned a lot more Haiti, for example:
1. Did you know about the town called Fond-Des-Blancs which means Fountain of Whites is home to a large number of people of Polish lineage. They were granted Haitian citizenship after they became the first republic in 1804.
2. The Centers of Disease Control named four groups high risk for AIDS and Haitians were the only ones solely identified by nationality.
3. The assassination of the President, I learnt so much about how that came to be and all the conspiracy theories behind this.
4. The kidnapping of the Christian missionaries, and the churches purchasing guns to protect themselves.
The collection also pinpoints a lot of Caribbean islands including Grenada, Dominican Republic and Dominica. Her speaking about Dominica and how she wanted to visit the island for numerous reasons really made my heart smile.
Last, I loved getting a look into her world as a writer. She gave a talk to some students who asked her which is harder to writer, the beginning or the end? Her answer was so unexpected but made so much sense.
A beautiful collection of essays that more people need to read.
September 15, 2024
4.5 stars rounded up
This collection of essays is largely about Haiti and the Haitian diaspora in ways that are both personal and political. We get bits that are more like memoir where Danticat shares about her childhood, about being a mother, adjusting to life in the United States, and about the COVID pandemic. But then it deals with the impact of a hurricane or political violence in Haiti. There is a strong sense of voice and perspective throughout and I'm glad to have tried something from this celebrated author. I was given a copy of the audiobook from Libro.FM and the author reads it herself which is always cool for nonfiction. I think this is an easy introduction to this author's work and it was a well-written set of essays.
This collection of essays is largely about Haiti and the Haitian diaspora in ways that are both personal and political. We get bits that are more like memoir where Danticat shares about her childhood, about being a mother, adjusting to life in the United States, and about the COVID pandemic. But then it deals with the impact of a hurricane or political violence in Haiti. There is a strong sense of voice and perspective throughout and I'm glad to have tried something from this celebrated author. I was given a copy of the audiobook from Libro.FM and the author reads it herself which is always cool for nonfiction. I think this is an easy introduction to this author's work and it was a well-written set of essays.
September 8, 2024
In We’re Alone: Essays, Edwidge Danticat has written a series of pieces on family, Haiti and the Haitian diaspora, her writing life and the literary world she is a part of, the effects of natural and political disasters on Haiti and much of the Caribbean region, and the constancy of migration throughout human history. So many interesting points touched on here. Her discussion of when to have the talk with her daughters about how the world, or many in the world, may/will look differently at them is sad and eloquent.
Perhaps my favorite essay is “They Are Waiting in the Hills.” She discusses several of her literary touchstones: Lorraine Hansberry, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Paula Marshall, and Toni Morrison. It has been too long since I have read Danticat; this has served to whet my appetite. There is a bibliography provided at the end.
Recommended for all who enjoy well written contemporary, and topical essays.
Thanks to Graywolf Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.
Perhaps my favorite essay is “They Are Waiting in the Hills.” She discusses several of her literary touchstones: Lorraine Hansberry, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Paula Marshall, and Toni Morrison. It has been too long since I have read Danticat; this has served to whet my appetite. There is a bibliography provided at the end.
Recommended for all who enjoy well written contemporary, and topical essays.
Thanks to Graywolf Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.
September 7, 2025
There’s something to be said about the realities of the place in which you come from. Edwidge Danticat, whom I was lucky enough to be in the presence of at an event once this year, shares really insightful essays featuring reflections on what her country of Haiti is, what it isn’t, what it could be, and its reputation in the broader world. She writes about her homeland, and what home has looked like, in all the places she’s been and lived with her family. She writes about what they feel like—the communities that exist and have existed in these spaces, these homes, Haiti and elsewhere. She captures a lot. The writing is on point and is infinitely readable.
Some additional highlights to me include: (1) her reflections on Zora Neale Hurston. Danticat was at the NYC Zora Summit earlier this year. She holds Zora, the woman, the writer and the anthropologist with passion, pain, and reverence. I appreciate that. She has some critical reflections, and when reckoned with, they definitely add perspectives to our shared knowledge of Zora. (2) Danticat’s reverence for Toni Morrison is so beautiful and relatable. She casually highlights how Toni Morrison expressed appreciation for King Kenny-Kendrick Lamar. I know that if I was Kendrick and I read that— I’d die! I was geeked!
When she talks about her mother, her uncle, her children, their connections, death and dying— she made me think about what it means to write people in your life into an immutable pen to paper existence. How hard and important it is to capture all of these things, the good, the bad, the complicated. She says:
Some of my favourite essays in this collection were the latter ones: Wozo, Not Mawozo, Chronicles of a Death Foretold, and Writing the Self and Others. I don’t want to say she saved the best for last, but they were incredibly striking. This is very much a recommended read!
Some additional highlights to me include: (1) her reflections on Zora Neale Hurston. Danticat was at the NYC Zora Summit earlier this year. She holds Zora, the woman, the writer and the anthropologist with passion, pain, and reverence. I appreciate that. She has some critical reflections, and when reckoned with, they definitely add perspectives to our shared knowledge of Zora. (2) Danticat’s reverence for Toni Morrison is so beautiful and relatable. She casually highlights how Toni Morrison expressed appreciation for King Kenny-Kendrick Lamar. I know that if I was Kendrick and I read that— I’d die! I was geeked!
When she talks about her mother, her uncle, her children, their connections, death and dying— she made me think about what it means to write people in your life into an immutable pen to paper existence. How hard and important it is to capture all of these things, the good, the bad, the complicated. She says:
“My mother never wanted me to write about her. It made her feel unshielded, exposed. I now understand that protective impulse, something akin to fearing the loss of your soul to the lens of a camera. The older I get and the fewer places there are to disappear in this all-seeing and all-knowing world, the more I want to hide, though Lorde has warned that what is most important “must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.” At times, fiction remains my only veil. When I write, I told those young writers in Fond-des-Blancs, I sometimes break promises both to myself and to others, to the living and the dead.” -90% in We’re Alone: Essays by Edwidge Danticat
Some of my favourite essays in this collection were the latter ones: Wozo, Not Mawozo, Chronicles of a Death Foretold, and Writing the Self and Others. I don’t want to say she saved the best for last, but they were incredibly striking. This is very much a recommended read!
June 14, 2024
This collection of essays feels like a walk down a quiet beach, and then suddenly finding yourself in the midst of violent lawlessness coupled with natural disasters.
Expertly written and arranged, Danticat came to the US from Haiti at a young age without knowing any English. She is now both an accomplished writer and a professor at Columbia. As her narrative shifts from her personal story to the story of her origin country, she creates a tapestry that leaves me hungry for more.
The stark contrast of a corrupt government where political and class divisions benefit the rich at the cost of everyone else is an unsettling reminder of why our votes matter in our country, and why we must do better.
So glad I finally got around to reading this author!
Expertly written and arranged, Danticat came to the US from Haiti at a young age without knowing any English. She is now both an accomplished writer and a professor at Columbia. As her narrative shifts from her personal story to the story of her origin country, she creates a tapestry that leaves me hungry for more.
The stark contrast of a corrupt government where political and class divisions benefit the rich at the cost of everyone else is an unsettling reminder of why our votes matter in our country, and why we must do better.
So glad I finally got around to reading this author!
April 6, 2024
ARC for review. To be published September 3, 2024.
A collection of essays including ones on the most recent natural disasters in Haiti, the assassination of Haiti’s president and the kidnapping of missionaries in the country and loss, in general.
A quiet, contemplative book. Definitely not a feel good book, but I liked it. Always the best for a good look at Haiti, past and present.
A collection of essays including ones on the most recent natural disasters in Haiti, the assassination of Haiti’s president and the kidnapping of missionaries in the country and loss, in general.
A quiet, contemplative book. Definitely not a feel good book, but I liked it. Always the best for a good look at Haiti, past and present.
March 15, 2025
This collection of essays was so well written and I learnt so much about Haitian history.
In particular about the impacts of political and natural disasters which have devastated the country for decades.
In particular about the impacts of political and natural disasters which have devastated the country for decades.
August 21, 2025
I really, really liked this
Not much to say, it’s short and sweet but with lots to ponder
Covers a vast range of topics, and I love the treatment of other authors and works of literature
(Also, I heard her read aloud from this book right as I was finishing another book on Haiti, Mountains Beyond Mountains, which is a phrase she mentions as well)
Not much to say, it’s short and sweet but with lots to ponder
Covers a vast range of topics, and I love the treatment of other authors and works of literature
(Also, I heard her read aloud from this book right as I was finishing another book on Haiti, Mountains Beyond Mountains, which is a phrase she mentions as well)
May 4, 2025
This is a slim, solemn, and somber collection of essays that journey from Haiti to the U.S. and back reflecting on immigration, violence, loss, and family. It is a short book but it took me awhile to finish because it was a lot for me to hold all that history and all that pain when we're living through more terror during this second Trump administration. This is my second book by Danticat and both have given nowhere to look away, no rosy silver lining. Just a commitment to witnessing and telling the stories of those who are most harmed and least listened to. To hold an unrelenting mirror to the cruelty, loss, and pain around us even if it would be so much easier to turn away. The collection meandered a bit for me but I learned so much about Haitian history and would recommend it.
June 14, 2025
My favorite essay was the one about Edwidge’s friendship with Toni Morrison. Edwidge was a speaker in Toni Morrison’s eponymous lecture series at Princeton and, during the dinner afterwards, Toni leaned over to ask how much Edwidge had been paid by Princeton to speak because she wanted to make sure the honorariums for her lecture series were generous. At another event organized by Toni in Paris, Toni made sure that Edwidge got to bring her mom and mother-in-law to Paris- both so they could be childcare for Edwidge’s daughter and so they could visit Paris for the first time. Toni Morrison seems like she was a great human.
Overall this collection was short but a bit of a slog.
Overall this collection was short but a bit of a slog.
October 26, 2025
essays beautiful essays. haiti is so cool and storied and danticat is a soft killer as always
December 29, 2024
magnificent, eye-opening, beautiful writing. educational and inspirational, this is the kind of prose i have to sit with after finishing.
January 14, 2025
This was my first book by Danticat and such a wonderful introduction to her work.
These essays give a small glimpse of her childhood, activism, family and past novels. The author also narrates her audiobook and makes it that much more enjoyable.
These essays give a small glimpse of her childhood, activism, family and past novels. The author also narrates her audiobook and makes it that much more enjoyable.
October 9, 2024
Edwidge Danticat’s impressive body of work spans both her award-winning fiction and nonfiction along with many books for children in addition to her contributions as an editor of several volumes. We’re Alone is a short collection of essays, each of which contain compelling sections, although not every piece makes a cohesive argument. Parts of these essays work better than their entirety.
One of the best pieces is “They Are Waiting in the Hills” with its handful of narratives recounting some of Danticat’s travels and also her interactions with famous writers. In particular, her sharing memories and stories from her friendship with the incomparable Toni Morrison revitalized my gracious reverence for the impact Morrison’s work has had on me.
“This Is My Body” is perhaps the most memorable essay. It starts with Danticat’s terrifying experience during a mass shooting, which turned out to be a hoax. From there she also confronts the hardships of dealing with bodily illness, and then she confronts the injustices of torture and how government policies try to legislate our bodies and the lives of “others.”
Another strong piece is “Wozo, Not Mawozo” in which she addresses the chronic dilemma of gang kidnappings and ransoms in Haiti. The collection concludes with a touching piece “Writing the Self and Others” where she shares heartfelt memories about her family and the grief of seeing the passing of those dear to her.
Every piece works its way around to include her Haitian heritage. She both celebrates aspects of its rich culture and unique mythmaking while also chronicling the sad history of her homeland’s problems, like many countries around the world, with corruption and lawlessness. I found nuggets of brilliance in each essay, although not every one of them is superb.
What resonates most throughout this collection is the resilience and fortitude of individuals, such as the Haitian people, to find ways to endure in the face of so much heartache and suffering. While recounting tribulations in both personal and national events, including natural disasters, she offers glimpses of progress and hope to counteract the neverending forces that challenge our human spirit.
One of the best pieces is “They Are Waiting in the Hills” with its handful of narratives recounting some of Danticat’s travels and also her interactions with famous writers. In particular, her sharing memories and stories from her friendship with the incomparable Toni Morrison revitalized my gracious reverence for the impact Morrison’s work has had on me.
“This Is My Body” is perhaps the most memorable essay. It starts with Danticat’s terrifying experience during a mass shooting, which turned out to be a hoax. From there she also confronts the hardships of dealing with bodily illness, and then she confronts the injustices of torture and how government policies try to legislate our bodies and the lives of “others.”
Another strong piece is “Wozo, Not Mawozo” in which she addresses the chronic dilemma of gang kidnappings and ransoms in Haiti. The collection concludes with a touching piece “Writing the Self and Others” where she shares heartfelt memories about her family and the grief of seeing the passing of those dear to her.
Every piece works its way around to include her Haitian heritage. She both celebrates aspects of its rich culture and unique mythmaking while also chronicling the sad history of her homeland’s problems, like many countries around the world, with corruption and lawlessness. I found nuggets of brilliance in each essay, although not every one of them is superb.
What resonates most throughout this collection is the resilience and fortitude of individuals, such as the Haitian people, to find ways to endure in the face of so much heartache and suffering. While recounting tribulations in both personal and national events, including natural disasters, she offers glimpses of progress and hope to counteract the neverending forces that challenge our human spirit.
April 12, 2024
A collection of essays varying in scope but all grounded in different degrees to the authors connection and early life in Haiti. My favorite essay was They are Waiting in the Hills - Danticat weaves together her personal relationships with and her relationships to the writing of six authors (Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Audre Lorde, Lorraine Hansberry, Paul’s Marshall). The essays in this collection address themes of colonialism, climate disaster, grief, and place with a sense of intimacy and care. I’m honored to have received this arc from Graywolf press and recommend picking up a copy of We’re Alone when it comes out this September.
April 13, 2025
listening to We’re Alone by Edwidge Danticat, i couldn’t help but sit with the layered meaning of that title — how it speaks to Haitians in the Americas, often made to feel singular, isolated, alone in history and narrative. but there I was too, in my car, alone, listening. and there’s something about that moment — driving, unseen, quiet — that mirrored what Danticat names. that kind of aloneness that isn’t just physical, but historical. political. generational. the kind of alone that feels like being invisible in plain sight.
"it's like being constantly called resilient because people think you're able to suffer much more than others" (101).
"it's like being constantly called resilient because people think you're able to suffer much more than others" (101).
March 1, 2025
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this collection of essays! it was a totally random pickup from the library and now I'm very interested in reading more from Danticat. her writing is very accessible but still informative, and she has a great way of expressing emotion that could really sneak up on me and surprise me with its impact.
fave essays were "They Are Waiting in the Hills" (about some of her favorite authors, traveling with their stories, and reminiscing on them as people, especially Toni Morrison with whom the author knew personally. her passion for writing as well as her love and respect for these authors is apparent, and it gave me newfound appreciation for them), "This Is My Body" (about many things, but the parts I enjoyed the most had to do with incarcerated populations and those tortured at Guantanamo, and how something as intimate as food can be weaponized, both by people in power and by people taking ownership of their body in situations where they have little power over anything else), and "Wozo, Not Mawozo" (about different aspects of Haiti, the people that live there and their resilience, as well as the people that have taken advantage of both them and their country, framed around a gang that kidnapped Christian missionaries in 2021).
I appreciated how much Haitian history was in these essays, and it's a collection I'll likely pick up myself to reread and mark up and use to further my own research.
fave essays were "They Are Waiting in the Hills" (about some of her favorite authors, traveling with their stories, and reminiscing on them as people, especially Toni Morrison with whom the author knew personally. her passion for writing as well as her love and respect for these authors is apparent, and it gave me newfound appreciation for them), "This Is My Body" (about many things, but the parts I enjoyed the most had to do with incarcerated populations and those tortured at Guantanamo, and how something as intimate as food can be weaponized, both by people in power and by people taking ownership of their body in situations where they have little power over anything else), and "Wozo, Not Mawozo" (about different aspects of Haiti, the people that live there and their resilience, as well as the people that have taken advantage of both them and their country, framed around a gang that kidnapped Christian missionaries in 2021).
I appreciated how much Haitian history was in these essays, and it's a collection I'll likely pick up myself to reread and mark up and use to further my own research.
August 31, 2025
These are eight remarkably insightful essays authored by a Haitian American woman. Herein, Danticat deals with her memories of the importance of family in a childhood marked by poverty, her migration and adaptation to life in the States, the persistence of political turmoil and natural disasters in Haiti, homage to her literary idols and the uplifting power of art. Notwithstanding a disjointed feel, mainly derived from the breadth of her topics, the collection seems to jell around Danticat’s contrasting senses of solitude and connection that she emphasizes by her title. “You’re alone and I’m alone,” she writes, “but if you join me, we can be alone together.”
Danticat’s themes in these essays are both profound and common. They include colonialism, environmental decay, political corruption, and the prevalence of malice surrounding oligarchy, violence, and racism. Despite the weightiness of her themes, her tone is honest, resilient, and hopeful. An important strength of the collection is Danticat’s voice, which is both intimate and reflective while never straying far from her cultural identity and personal experience as an expatriate Haitian American.
Danticat’s themes in these essays are both profound and common. They include colonialism, environmental decay, political corruption, and the prevalence of malice surrounding oligarchy, violence, and racism. Despite the weightiness of her themes, her tone is honest, resilient, and hopeful. An important strength of the collection is Danticat’s voice, which is both intimate and reflective while never straying far from her cultural identity and personal experience as an expatriate Haitian American.
February 25, 2025
A well-written collection of the author’s own experiences and those of the larger Haitian community and diaspora.
The author’s thoughts on the title really stuck with me:
“‘We’re alone’ is the persistent chorus of the deserted, as in ‘no one is coming to save us.’ Yet ‘we’re alone’ can also be a promise writers make to their readers, a reminder of the singular intimacy between us: at least we’re alone together.”
The author’s thoughts on the title really stuck with me:
“‘We’re alone’ is the persistent chorus of the deserted, as in ‘no one is coming to save us.’ Yet ‘we’re alone’ can also be a promise writers make to their readers, a reminder of the singular intimacy between us: at least we’re alone together.”
December 19, 2025
I enjoyed the essay in this collection in which Edwidge Danticat discusses her list of literary greats, including James Baldwin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Toni Morrison, because for me she belongs among those greats. I think she is just one of the best living writers. Everything I read by her feels so special, and this short but incisive collection of eight essays is no exception. Thoughtful, transportive, and beautifully written.
October 26, 2024
A collection of mostly autobiographical essays from Edwige Danticat, primarily about her life as a Haitian immigrant to the U.S. from the AIDS crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic. I like where the title comes from: authors write alone and readers read alone, but through that shared experience, they are alone together. I listened to the audio read by the author, but in hindsight, I think it would have been better to read a print version.
Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club: October 2024 selection
Format: Audio
Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club: October 2024 selection
Format: Audio
January 29, 2025
A moving collection of essays that I found to be a great introduction to the author.
January 20, 2025
Really great collection of essays about Haitian diaspora and literature, natural disasters, political violence, etc. an eye-opening and quiet book that packs a punch. The essay about her family members passing and grief and the piece that recounts her friendship with Toni Morrison were powerful. There were a lot of memorable bits in here.
I wanted this so much longer. I also thought this could be more cohesive among the essays as a whole. I might need Danticat to write an essay collection every year because I want to hear this voice on even more contemporary topics. Time will tell if this ages well.
Will you like this if you have no interest in Haiti? Not sure, but this made me interested. The personal is political and this is a good reminder of that. Recommend this for sure.
I wanted this so much longer. I also thought this could be more cohesive among the essays as a whole. I might need Danticat to write an essay collection every year because I want to hear this voice on even more contemporary topics. Time will tell if this ages well.
Will you like this if you have no interest in Haiti? Not sure, but this made me interested. The personal is political and this is a good reminder of that. Recommend this for sure.
November 29, 2025
4.5 stars!
very one day everyone will have always been against this and the message coded
wish it was longer
BEAUTIFUL PROSE and the last chapter made me cry
essays about writing and being an immigrant of haitian descent to the United States
“There’s a Haitian proverb that says Lanmè pa kenbe kras. The sea does not hold dirt. This saying might have come down to us from the combined knowledge of our indigenous ancestors, who ate from the sea their whole lives, and our African ancestors, so many of whom were brutally transported across the ocean on slave ships. The sea welcomed the bodies of those who jumped off those ships and never made it across—cleansing them. (It does not hold dirt, thus we are not dirt.) Our ancestors might have also been speaking of a cleaner, more pristine sea.”
“Wilson Joseph had told Henri on Boukante lapawòl that he saw the French priests and nuns as representative of France’s sins against Haiti: enslavement, colonization, and “the Ransom” of $150 million that Haiti was forced to pay France for this independence.
“They are the reason Haiti is the way it is today,” he added.”
“How can we get along?” he said, throwing out some possible questions that might be raised. “It’s fine that you earn money, but what about the others? What will you give them? What’s the limit to the amount of profit I can make? That’s the national dialogue, which should happen even before the dialogue between the politicians. The politicians are just passing through, and sometimes they come up with good ideas. Sometimes they come up with wacky ideas when the reality is hunger. The reality is work. The reality is education. To raise the country’s educational level, the rich must come to some agreement with the poor. The rich must agree to earn less and pay taxes. The number of people who can become rich must grow. Contributing to the country’s social evolution is the rich’s best protection.”
“Though his ending felt abrupt, something about it was not. He was the last of his generation still alive. His death was both a beginning and an end, just like Emmanuella’s birth had been. At fifty-three, I had been thrust into becoming one of the oldest people on my father’s side of the family; it had turned me into an elder.
My uncle once asked me why I never wrote about him.
“Consider yourself lucky,” I said. “I don’t write happy things.”
“Then write about me when I die,” he said.
I also write, I want to tell those young writers I once visited in Fond-des-Blancs, to keep my promises to the dead.”
very one day everyone will have always been against this and the message coded
wish it was longer
BEAUTIFUL PROSE and the last chapter made me cry
essays about writing and being an immigrant of haitian descent to the United States
“There’s a Haitian proverb that says Lanmè pa kenbe kras. The sea does not hold dirt. This saying might have come down to us from the combined knowledge of our indigenous ancestors, who ate from the sea their whole lives, and our African ancestors, so many of whom were brutally transported across the ocean on slave ships. The sea welcomed the bodies of those who jumped off those ships and never made it across—cleansing them. (It does not hold dirt, thus we are not dirt.) Our ancestors might have also been speaking of a cleaner, more pristine sea.”
“Wilson Joseph had told Henri on Boukante lapawòl that he saw the French priests and nuns as representative of France’s sins against Haiti: enslavement, colonization, and “the Ransom” of $150 million that Haiti was forced to pay France for this independence.
“They are the reason Haiti is the way it is today,” he added.”
“How can we get along?” he said, throwing out some possible questions that might be raised. “It’s fine that you earn money, but what about the others? What will you give them? What’s the limit to the amount of profit I can make? That’s the national dialogue, which should happen even before the dialogue between the politicians. The politicians are just passing through, and sometimes they come up with good ideas. Sometimes they come up with wacky ideas when the reality is hunger. The reality is work. The reality is education. To raise the country’s educational level, the rich must come to some agreement with the poor. The rich must agree to earn less and pay taxes. The number of people who can become rich must grow. Contributing to the country’s social evolution is the rich’s best protection.”
“Though his ending felt abrupt, something about it was not. He was the last of his generation still alive. His death was both a beginning and an end, just like Emmanuella’s birth had been. At fifty-three, I had been thrust into becoming one of the oldest people on my father’s side of the family; it had turned me into an elder.
My uncle once asked me why I never wrote about him.
“Consider yourself lucky,” I said. “I don’t write happy things.”
“Then write about me when I die,” he said.
I also write, I want to tell those young writers I once visited in Fond-des-Blancs, to keep my promises to the dead.”
readers-advisory
September 19, 2024"/* Starred Review */ Novelist and essayist Danticat (Everything Inside) delivers a collection of piercing reflections on her native Haiti. In “A Rainbow in the Sky,” Danticat describes the steep toll that increasingly severe hurricanes are taking on the country (after Hurricane Matthew hit in 2006, “there were reports of people having no food, water, or shelter and living in caves while eating potentially toxic plants”) and laments the reluctance of wealthy nations to accept climate refugees. Other selections compare the xenophobia faced by Haitian expats in the U.S. and Dominican Republic and contrast the Croix-des-Bouquets commune’s flourishing art scene with the Mawozo gang that operates out of the area. Danticat has a knack for cutting turns of phrase (“Family is whoever is left when everyone else is gone,” she remarks in “Writing the Self and Others,” which discusses her ambivalent feelings toward writing about her relatives). She also excels at weaving together personal narrative and history. For instance, she writes in “Children of the Sea” that “being human means having to keep beginning again,” recounting how a “Haitian exile” teacher helped her adjust to living in New York City after she moved there at age 12, and describing how Haiti has rebounded after the 2010 earthquake and the 1991 coup against its first democratically elected president. Danticat remains at the height of her considerable talents. (Sept.) --Staff (Reviewed 07/29/2024) (Publishers Weekly, vol 271, issue 29, p)"
November 3, 2024
Some of my favorite essay collections give you both a sense of intimate, personal experiences and manage also to tie that to much larger, more expansive political or social issues. Danticat does that well in We're Alone. In the preface, Danticat speaks to how the reader and the writer are alone together - the experience of each in creating or engaging with the work is solitary, but at the same time they are alone together. The line 'we're alone' came from a poem by a Haitian poet who was arrested and later declared dead in custody during the Duvalier dictorships -- again demonstrating how the personal is reflected in a larger context.
In this collection, Danticat speaks to hurricanes and political violence, to her experience as a a new student in Brooklyn knowing very little English, to her relationships with the writers who have influenced her (They are Waiting in the Hills is perfection). If you like Danticat's fiction, you will appreciate this work - she brings the same skill and ability to describe so precisely and bring the reader into the world she is observing that she demonstrates in her novels into her non-fiction writing. If you've never read her fiction, then this work gives you a good introduction into both her style and the experiences that influence her point of view.
At a youth workshop she did, she was asked "Can writing change anything? How does an artist move the world?" Danticat states that she wasn't sure exactly what she answered, but she wanted to say "by bearing witness" She accomplishes that in this collection.
In this collection, Danticat speaks to hurricanes and political violence, to her experience as a a new student in Brooklyn knowing very little English, to her relationships with the writers who have influenced her (They are Waiting in the Hills is perfection). If you like Danticat's fiction, you will appreciate this work - she brings the same skill and ability to describe so precisely and bring the reader into the world she is observing that she demonstrates in her novels into her non-fiction writing. If you've never read her fiction, then this work gives you a good introduction into both her style and the experiences that influence her point of view.
At a youth workshop she did, she was asked "Can writing change anything? How does an artist move the world?" Danticat states that she wasn't sure exactly what she answered, but she wanted to say "by bearing witness" She accomplishes that in this collection.
October 2, 2024
This is The First Book of Edwidge Danticat I did not like. It’s not because of the writing. Mostly it is because the collection of short stories hit the reality of Haiti too close. It saddens me that the state of my home country is deteriorating either by natural disasters, political instability and gang doing kidnappings. For what is worth, I’m glad I had the chance to go before things turn around in turmoil. I pray for my home country every day. I pray that God will use Haitians and our country to show His grace and strength. When Haitians was in the news again because of Trump, all I could think about was the state of the country that forces a mass migration outside of it. It is unfortunate but I still have hope for a country that will rebuild itself and be not only an inspiration from its history but to the future as well. That is why it was sad to read about the status quo of Haiti in this book because we truly are alone in this mess.
August 20, 2025
2.5 stars
I came across We're Alone: Essays while searching for highly rated Haitian authors and decided to read it in hopes of learning more about my mother country, Haiti. Instead, I found it more autobiographical and lackluster. For example, Danticat reflects on her surprise at how salt looked different in America...
Much of We're Alone revisits the devastating disasters Haiti has endured over the decades, most of which I was already familiar with, so I unfortunately didn’t gain new insights. Like Edwidge, I remain hopeful, though unsure how a better life can truly be forged for Haitians.
That said, this book is still important. It conveys the Haitian experience from a native perspective and is beautifully written, it just felt redundant for me personally.
I came across We're Alone: Essays while searching for highly rated Haitian authors and decided to read it in hopes of learning more about my mother country, Haiti. Instead, I found it more autobiographical and lackluster. For example, Danticat reflects on her surprise at how salt looked different in America...
Much of We're Alone revisits the devastating disasters Haiti has endured over the decades, most of which I was already familiar with, so I unfortunately didn’t gain new insights. Like Edwidge, I remain hopeful, though unsure how a better life can truly be forged for Haitians.
That said, this book is still important. It conveys the Haitian experience from a native perspective and is beautifully written, it just felt redundant for me personally.
December 26, 2025
Having just read some of Danticat’s fiction, I was excited to get to this essay collection. Unfortunately, to be blunt, it just didn’t do anything for me at all. The personal-political juxtapositions could have been an effective trope, but actually seemed to undercut both—trivializing the political, while never quite making the personal feel any more significant or elevated.
It wasn’t a frustrating book so much as an unmemorable one. None of the essays felt essential or lasting. The scattered reflections on literature did prompt some interest—but that more about the writers she quoted & paraphrased than about Danticat’s own engagement with them. It did increase my desire to read Audre Lorde, among others. But that’s about it.
It wasn’t a frustrating book so much as an unmemorable one. None of the essays felt essential or lasting. The scattered reflections on literature did prompt some interest—but that more about the writers she quoted & paraphrased than about Danticat’s own engagement with them. It did increase my desire to read Audre Lorde, among others. But that’s about it.
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