I Will Fly Again: The Restavek

by Lili Dauphin

I Will Fly Again: The Restavek tells a unique and chilling tale of a young girl enslaved by her own family members. Amid the chaos and carnage, she's compelled to find the mother she has never known. This poignant narrative produces a vivid document of the sad face of child slavery. Yet, it's moving, sweet and uplifting.

284 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

A six-year-old village girl, writer of letters and poems and plays, is sent to live with relatives in town, so she can go to school. But her relatives have other ideas and turn Tilou into a slave. So begins Lili Dauphin’s memoir, I will fly again, of life as a restavek in Haiti. Guns, violence and drunkenness characterize the lives around her, while she describes herself as “a free spirit, and a gentle soul,” wanting only “to love everyone, make everyone happy, and, most of all, surround myself with serenity.” Punishment for such minor infractions as eating might include being burned, having your fingers cut off, or being killed.

Tilou was already taking herself to school at two years old, proving to teachers that she was just as good as her six-year-old fellow students, and filled with enthusiasm. But now she helps her aunt’s children get ready for school, then stays home to work, filling her mind with memories of ghosts and vampires and skeletons. Steven Anderson seems to offer help, but can help be trusted, especially when witches cast their spells?

Love and kindness may be hard to find, but Tilou makes them for herself in this sad story of the hills and towns and disappearing forests of Haiti. Singing songs for her unknown mother, searching for identity, fleeing soldiers, seeking home… Tilou of the broken body and broken spirit finds healing and words in the end to create a book and let the world read her tale.

Opening with a hauntingly evocative childhood scene, I will fly again contains fascinating details of Haitian life, a generous sympathy for the wounded, and a wise lesson for all, told in the bluntly factual voice of a woman teaching what she’s learned at great expense.



Disclosure: I read this ebook in the autobiography and memoir section of the Dan Poynter Global eBook Awards competition.

[William Guerrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are hundreds of thousands of child-slaves (restaveks) in Haiti, living in horrific conditions that should shock us all. Yet the vast majority of us are either ignorant of this fact, or indifferent to it (even if we are consumed with indignation at comparatively trivial injustices).

This moving book, which appears to be a memoir of sorts, tells the story of a six-year-old restavek and paints a compelling picture of Haitian life. Readers should be forewarned that this is not a polished book--there are some typos and the author would benefit greatly from an editor. But I found its flaws to be somehow endearing, adding to the seeming honesty of the story. I can think of few things more heartbreaking than a child desperate for love, and finding none.

[Karen]

A wonderful and uplifting book. Young Tilou uses what is now known as "the secret" to survive her ordeal as a child slave. She never gave up hope that one day she would find her mother and have a life of freedom. It is compelling and very hard to put down. I didn't want it to end. I really hope this is made into a movie.

[Cobralilly]

A compelling story of a young girl surviving slavery. Young Tilou never gives up hope that one day she will find her mother and be free from slavery. She uses her strength and imagination to survive. This book is a MUST READ.