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Mouths Don't Speak
No one was prepared for the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, taking over a quarter-million lives, and leaving millions more homeless. Three thousand miles away, Jacqueline Florestant mourns the presumed death of her parents, while her husband, a former US Marine and combat veteran, cares for their three-year-old daughter as he fights his own battles with acute PTSD.
Horrified and guilt-ridden, Jacqueline returns to Haiti in search of the proverbial "closure." Unfortunately, the Haiti she left as a child twenty-five years earlier has disappeared. Her quest turns into a tornado of deception, desperation, and more death. So Jacqueline holds tightly to her daughter--the only one who must not die.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2018
14 people are currently reading
1173 people want to read
About the author
Katia D. Ulysse
8 books31 followersKatia D. Ulysse is a Haitian born writer, and founder of the Blog VoicesfromHaiti. Ulysse written work has appeared in numerous publications included but not limited to The Caribbean Writer, Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism, The African Calabash Magazine, Peregrine Magazine, and Smartish Pace.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
August 14, 2018
3.5 stars • I requested this title for review because I am woefully under-read on Haiti, and a book written by a Haitian about the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 sounded like JUST the book to change that status. Written almost like a novella, this 200 page story (also set in Baltimore) is an incredibly fast read while managing to pack in more grief and drama that I would have thought possible. While at times overly descriptive and more dramatic than I perhaps would prefer, MOUTHS still exposed me to two worlds fairly new to me - Haiti and that of a former US Marine suffering from PTSD. Although both of these, in my opinion, could have been fleshed out much more to create a longer work, they combined for a fast-paced and heartbreaking story.
If you are looking to expand your reading and prioritize #ownvoices stories (as I do), add this one to your reading list.
Thanks to Akashic Books for the review copy!
If you are looking to expand your reading and prioritize #ownvoices stories (as I do), add this one to your reading list.
Thanks to Akashic Books for the review copy!
January 8, 2018
A bit of an abrupt ending, so more like a 4.5 but not a 5.
January 12, 2018
3.5 review soon.
January 30, 2018
This is not the book I thought it was going to be. The promotional literature is woefully misleading for this book.
First, Jacqueline is not your average Haitian. Somehow (it's unexplained how or why exactly) her family is rich. Like really rich (a la Duvalier). It just seems very fake to me, particularly because of the way the book was advertised.
Second, she seems to spend most of the book upset that there was an earthquake in Haiti, but because of various family issues, she doesn't actually go to Haiti. When she actually does go to Haiti at the end of the book, she spends it on her parents very luxurious property.
Third, this is not so much a book about Haiti or the Haitian earthquake or Jacqueline's relationship to Haiti. It's a book about Except that and the book pretty much ends. The end. No explanation.
Finally, there are A LOT of similes and metaphors that seem overdone. It reminded me of elementary school where I was forced to practice making them up as part of a literary techniques lesson. Examples:
Suddenly, the anchorman became as animated as a child at the circus seeing for the first time a real-life lion jump through circles of fire without getting burned.
She had listened attentively while he spoke as if from the sinner's side of a confessional.
In the twenty years since that trip, she'd circled the world several times—by ship and by air—passing by Sweden like one going by a neighbor's house without the slightest inclination to knock.
Jacqueline picked up her mail from the lobby on her way upstairs, but didn't bother to open the envelopes, now piled in a corner like snowdrifts.
Reality, like a wave of impatient passengers in a crowded airplane, would rush past her.
Would not recommend.
First, Jacqueline is not your average Haitian. Somehow (it's unexplained how or why exactly) her family is rich. Like really rich (a la Duvalier). It just seems very fake to me, particularly because of the way the book was advertised.
Second, she seems to spend most of the book upset that there was an earthquake in Haiti, but because of various family issues, she doesn't actually go to Haiti. When she actually does go to Haiti at the end of the book, she spends it on her parents very luxurious property.
Third, this is not so much a book about Haiti or the Haitian earthquake or Jacqueline's relationship to Haiti. It's a book about Except that and the book pretty much ends. The end. No explanation.
Finally, there are A LOT of similes and metaphors that seem overdone. It reminded me of elementary school where I was forced to practice making them up as part of a literary techniques lesson. Examples:
Suddenly, the anchorman became as animated as a child at the circus seeing for the first time a real-life lion jump through circles of fire without getting burned.
She had listened attentively while he spoke as if from the sinner's side of a confessional.
In the twenty years since that trip, she'd circled the world several times—by ship and by air—passing by Sweden like one going by a neighbor's house without the slightest inclination to knock.
Jacqueline picked up her mail from the lobby on her way upstairs, but didn't bother to open the envelopes, now piled in a corner like snowdrifts.
Reality, like a wave of impatient passengers in a crowded airplane, would rush past her.
Would not recommend.
March 18, 2018
Perhaps Ulysse tries to cover too much material in too little space. This story of a woman with a dysfunctional relationship with her parents and a husband with PTSD jumps all over the place. She lives in Baltimore and is trying to come to terms with the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti--where her parents live but where she herself hasn't lived since she was ten years old. With several digressions, switches in points of view, characters who really don't add to the story, I just couldn't get a handle on what story she was trying to tell.
Free copy from publisher through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Free copy from publisher through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
May 3, 2019
This novel ended up being better than I thought it would be. 3.5
June 11, 2021
What a terrible ending.
Read
January 1, 2018Katia D. Ulysse’s sophomore novel, Mouths Don't Speak, is a heartbreaking symphony of place, time, relationships and messy drama. The story follows Jacqueline — a daughter of suspiciously wealthy Haitian parents — after the Haitian earthquake of 2010. To say the earthquake “rips her family apart” is a bit dishonest because they were never really together.
The complexity of the different relationships in this novel is what will draw readers to keep turning each page. From living with a husband she doesn’t really seem to like who suffers from PTSD, her infatuation with her blue-eyed language teacher and her repulsively pretentious parents. Though the novel follows Jacqueline, we often get to see the perspectives of different characters and it’s admirable at how smoothly the author makes these transitions. Each character has an interesting worldview, particularly her husband and mother who I found easy to pity and sometimes hate.
The pacing of the book was largely enjoyable. Even when Jacqueline spent a long time focused on her memories the plot never felt like had to slow down. Sadly, while the novel was entertaining, a lot of the drama in the book felt like it was reserved for the last quarter of the book. There is a unexpected twist and many deep revelations towards the end that I only wished the author would’ve spent more time on.
This is the first Katia D. Ulysse novel I’ve read and I’m definitely interested in picking up her debut novel, Drifting, which also sounds like it’ll have all the messy drama I enjoyed in Mouths Don’t Speak.
If you’re looking for a novel that is so interesting you can read it in a day, this should be on the top of your list.
Thank you to Akashic Books for an advanced readers copy of in exchange for an honest review.
--
Jherane Patmore
The complexity of the different relationships in this novel is what will draw readers to keep turning each page. From living with a husband she doesn’t really seem to like who suffers from PTSD, her infatuation with her blue-eyed language teacher and her repulsively pretentious parents. Though the novel follows Jacqueline, we often get to see the perspectives of different characters and it’s admirable at how smoothly the author makes these transitions. Each character has an interesting worldview, particularly her husband and mother who I found easy to pity and sometimes hate.
The pacing of the book was largely enjoyable. Even when Jacqueline spent a long time focused on her memories the plot never felt like had to slow down. Sadly, while the novel was entertaining, a lot of the drama in the book felt like it was reserved for the last quarter of the book. There is a unexpected twist and many deep revelations towards the end that I only wished the author would’ve spent more time on.
This is the first Katia D. Ulysse novel I’ve read and I’m definitely interested in picking up her debut novel, Drifting, which also sounds like it’ll have all the messy drama I enjoyed in Mouths Don’t Speak.
If you’re looking for a novel that is so interesting you can read it in a day, this should be on the top of your list.
Thank you to Akashic Books for an advanced readers copy of in exchange for an honest review.
--
Jherane Patmore
February 3, 2018
This was a 3.5 read for me.
Thoughts coming shortly.
Thoughts coming shortly.
January 10, 2018
3.5 stars. This was a really good novel!
Ulysse has things I love in multicult fiction --> unapologetic codeswitching, vivid details about life in Haiti including customs and cuisine, plus the POV of both an American seeing another country, but an immigrant seeing America for the first time.
The humor about the white Creole speaker was great. The dialogue was mostly on point. I felt frustrated that the main character was surrounded by some pretty flawed relatives - mom and hubbie - but these types of people do exist in real life and can be insufferable.
The twist at the 2/3rd mark totally blew me away and I really dug the very short chaptering to end this. Of course, I wanted more, but in a good way.
Also, the marriage dynamics for the main character (individualist) and between her parents felt really, really well sketched.
Ulysse has things I love in multicult fiction --> unapologetic codeswitching, vivid details about life in Haiti including customs and cuisine, plus the POV of both an American seeing another country, but an immigrant seeing America for the first time.
The humor about the white Creole speaker was great. The dialogue was mostly on point. I felt frustrated that the main character was surrounded by some pretty flawed relatives - mom and hubbie - but these types of people do exist in real life and can be insufferable.
The twist at the 2/3rd mark totally blew me away and I really dug the very short chaptering to end this. Of course, I wanted more, but in a good way.
Also, the marriage dynamics for the main character (individualist) and between her parents felt really, really well sketched.
February 6, 2018
Mouths Don't Speak was a book I saw on Instagram through @theloudlibrarylady. This wonderful booklover then started a bookchain with the book. I received it on Saturday and devoured it between Sunday and Monday.
I have never read a book that had Haiti as its main focus. Our main character, Jacqueline, is Haitian, but has lived in America since she was ten. Haiti has been hit by a devastating earthquake and we open the story with Jacqueline trying to get a hold of her parents. Besides this, she has a husband who deals with PTSD from the war in the middle east.
I liked this book. It was fine. I felt the plot skips around a bit trying to fit all the pieces of Jacqueline's life in. There are times we are listening to the thoughts of other characters and I felt that was a bit random and intermittent. The last 1/4 of the book had a very rushed feel.
I have never read a book that had Haiti as its main focus. Our main character, Jacqueline, is Haitian, but has lived in America since she was ten. Haiti has been hit by a devastating earthquake and we open the story with Jacqueline trying to get a hold of her parents. Besides this, she has a husband who deals with PTSD from the war in the middle east.
I liked this book. It was fine. I felt the plot skips around a bit trying to fit all the pieces of Jacqueline's life in. There are times we are listening to the thoughts of other characters and I felt that was a bit random and intermittent. The last 1/4 of the book had a very rushed feel.
March 25, 2018
Every story line in this book felt unfinished. It felt as though predictable events were added just for drama but never fully fleshed out so they didn't add anything to the story. I don't understand her husband's position on Haiti, what happened between her and the pastor, and even the issue between her and the parents, nothing was fully explained. I was very disappointed because I had high expectations for this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2017
Will be writing a review for Rebel Women Lit soon + they'll be doing a giveaway. Follow them on Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram.
May 14, 2023
Katia D. Ulysse’s powerful first novel Mouths Don’t Speak explores suffering, both physical and emotional, and one woman’s search for closure. The Haitian protagonist Jacqueline lives in Baltimore and struggles with deep psychological wounds inflicted by her mother, who still lives in Port-au-Prince. The novel challenges stereotypes of Haiti—extreme poverty, unstable communities, etc.—by capturing the lives of its wealthier residents: Jacqueline’s parents, Annette and Paul, had two luxury department stores and were friends with the President, but Annette dumped their daughter in a U.S. boarding school, abandoning her for years. In the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, however, Jacqueline is driven by guilt and grief to travel back to the country she left as a child twenty-five years prior.
The novel’s title comes from Psalm 135; 15-18: “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak.” Ulysse criticizes those humans who gorge on silver and gold like Annette, while managing to capture another aspect of Haitian culture: its deep religiousness. As a young woman, Jacqueline found sanctuary in regularly attending church and drew inspiration from the pastor Sister Marsha, who vowed to be the loud voice “for those who can’t or are too scared to speak for themselves. Mouths don’t speak, they say, but I refuse to keep the secrets of evildoers!”
Ulysse creates strong, believable characters—starting with the callous Annette, who thinks her estate should be a fort protecting her from “democracy seekers.” Many characters have deep wounds: Annette’s husband Paul, crippled in the 2010 earthquake, is kind but ineffectual in his protests to his wife; Jeanette, an art teacher, mother, and wife, is still angry at how she was abandoned as a child; Jeanette’s husband Kevin has PTSD from fighting in U.S. wars. In Baltimore, Jacqueline suffers when watching the 2010 earthquake destruction from afar but then decides to study Haitian Creole as a way of reconnecting with the culture. At first she is shocked that her teacher Leyla is a blue-eyed, very blonde American, but soon learns that this blonde spent twenty years in Haiti doing research and also worked helping penniless rice farmers begin other businesses, saying, “How can you make a living when the country is littered with cheap rice from the good old US of A?” In Mouths Don’t Speak, what counts are one’s actions and words.
In the second half of the novel, Ulysse describes at-length how characters struggle to heal from their traumas. After the earthquake, Jacqueline finds healing through studying Creole and learning how to dance to vodou jazz—a loud, angry, and political music—while impoverished Haitians start a new bazaar with market stalls near her parents’ house. Annette and Paul have an estate full of fruit and breadfruit trees they rarely eat, but now the hungry poor “just slipped through the holes in the wall and harvested a few.” In one sense, the hero of the novel is really Annette and Paul’s groundskeeper Pachou, who has worked for Annette for sixty years; readers will cheer as he stands his ground and demands his rights. In this fascinating novel about Haitian life, Ulysse beautifully braids together the struggle for personal redemption with the struggle for dignity and human rights.
The novel’s title comes from Psalm 135; 15-18: “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak.” Ulysse criticizes those humans who gorge on silver and gold like Annette, while managing to capture another aspect of Haitian culture: its deep religiousness. As a young woman, Jacqueline found sanctuary in regularly attending church and drew inspiration from the pastor Sister Marsha, who vowed to be the loud voice “for those who can’t or are too scared to speak for themselves. Mouths don’t speak, they say, but I refuse to keep the secrets of evildoers!”
Ulysse creates strong, believable characters—starting with the callous Annette, who thinks her estate should be a fort protecting her from “democracy seekers.” Many characters have deep wounds: Annette’s husband Paul, crippled in the 2010 earthquake, is kind but ineffectual in his protests to his wife; Jeanette, an art teacher, mother, and wife, is still angry at how she was abandoned as a child; Jeanette’s husband Kevin has PTSD from fighting in U.S. wars. In Baltimore, Jacqueline suffers when watching the 2010 earthquake destruction from afar but then decides to study Haitian Creole as a way of reconnecting with the culture. At first she is shocked that her teacher Leyla is a blue-eyed, very blonde American, but soon learns that this blonde spent twenty years in Haiti doing research and also worked helping penniless rice farmers begin other businesses, saying, “How can you make a living when the country is littered with cheap rice from the good old US of A?” In Mouths Don’t Speak, what counts are one’s actions and words.
In the second half of the novel, Ulysse describes at-length how characters struggle to heal from their traumas. After the earthquake, Jacqueline finds healing through studying Creole and learning how to dance to vodou jazz—a loud, angry, and political music—while impoverished Haitians start a new bazaar with market stalls near her parents’ house. Annette and Paul have an estate full of fruit and breadfruit trees they rarely eat, but now the hungry poor “just slipped through the holes in the wall and harvested a few.” In one sense, the hero of the novel is really Annette and Paul’s groundskeeper Pachou, who has worked for Annette for sixty years; readers will cheer as he stands his ground and demands his rights. In this fascinating novel about Haitian life, Ulysse beautifully braids together the struggle for personal redemption with the struggle for dignity and human rights.
January 17, 2018
I love to read books about diverse cultures and this one is about Haiti, the earthquake in 2010, the rich and the poor and Haitian culture. The story brought out all of that out. It started with Jacqueline Florestant in Brooklyn weeping and sobbing at the news about the earthquake. She had only spent the first ten years of her life there. Her parents, being very rich, sent her away to boarding school.
Jacqueline remembers Haiti as being a paradise behind the walls of her home. Her husband, Kevin, took care of their daughter, Amber while Jacqueline sobbed over the news. Kevin had PTSD and only felt attached to his daughter while she seems detached or seems to take Amber for granted. It was hard to identity with either character right from the beginning of the story. She was from the privileged elite in Haiti. The rich elite are a small part of the total population, but they seem only interested in perpetuating their wealth and enjoying life. They were not interested in helping the enormous amount of poor people.
Jacqueline worries about her parents but she also has bad memories of them. She tried calling them for weeks and thought they might be dead. Then she got a call from her mother. Her father had to have his legs amputated because he was trying to save the employees in their factory. Her mother seems to have no empathy for her husband, Jacqueline, or for the poor of Haiti.
Jacqueline lets go of her job and heads for Haiti. She leaves with Amber and has much to learn.
This book is very fast paced and hold onto your interest fiercely. I learned more about the Haitian culture and the financial divide. That encourages me to read more about this unusual country. I never felt sympathetic to the main characters except for her father who had begun to care. The language was very rough when the author had the Jacqueline talk about her students. This is realistic though, I know from when my mother taught grade school in the inner city. I just thought that it could have been handled differently, maybe shortened. But it is a valuable book to read and learn from.
I received this Advance Copy as a win from LibraryThing from the publishers in exchange for a fair book review. My thoughts and feelings in this review are totally my own.
Jacqueline remembers Haiti as being a paradise behind the walls of her home. Her husband, Kevin, took care of their daughter, Amber while Jacqueline sobbed over the news. Kevin had PTSD and only felt attached to his daughter while she seems detached or seems to take Amber for granted. It was hard to identity with either character right from the beginning of the story. She was from the privileged elite in Haiti. The rich elite are a small part of the total population, but they seem only interested in perpetuating their wealth and enjoying life. They were not interested in helping the enormous amount of poor people.
Jacqueline worries about her parents but she also has bad memories of them. She tried calling them for weeks and thought they might be dead. Then she got a call from her mother. Her father had to have his legs amputated because he was trying to save the employees in their factory. Her mother seems to have no empathy for her husband, Jacqueline, or for the poor of Haiti.
Jacqueline lets go of her job and heads for Haiti. She leaves with Amber and has much to learn.
This book is very fast paced and hold onto your interest fiercely. I learned more about the Haitian culture and the financial divide. That encourages me to read more about this unusual country. I never felt sympathetic to the main characters except for her father who had begun to care. The language was very rough when the author had the Jacqueline talk about her students. This is realistic though, I know from when my mother taught grade school in the inner city. I just thought that it could have been handled differently, maybe shortened. But it is a valuable book to read and learn from.
I received this Advance Copy as a win from LibraryThing from the publishers in exchange for a fair book review. My thoughts and feelings in this review are totally my own.
June 12, 2018
The book tackles a number of issues—wrapped around the tragedy of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake—including grief, the emotional struggles of post-war veterans (most notably the effects of PTSD), cultural appropriation, and classism. To name only a few.
It’s a lot to take in, in less than 300 pages, but Katia Ulysse does a pretty good job.
Jacqueline and Kevin live in Baltimore with their three-year old daughter, Amber. Kevin has had trouble readjusting to being home, after his last tour in Iraq, and his marriage to Jacqueline is not what as it once was. However, the two still love each other and find a tether to that love via Amber.
After an earthquake rocks Jacqueline’s homeland of Haiti, she finds herself pining for the land she abandoned, and concerned for her parents (Paul and Annette)—with whom she has a complicated, and also contentious, relationship—but whose survival is yet unknown.
The book unfolds in quick, succinct chapters, with a lot of imagery offered via the inner thoughts of Jacqueline (an artist).
Jacqueline is a somewhat motherless child, and she holds a great deal of resentment for the way her parents disappeared from her life in favor of becoming jet setters.
At the same time, she’s worried she may no longer have the chance to mend that relationship, in the face of such a devastating catastrophe, and wonders if she’ll even have the opportunity to return to the home she once knew.
There’s an unspeakable tragedy, a reckoning, and a good deal of emotional insight throughout this book. At one point or another we’re given a glimpse into the psyche of each of the major characters.
Even so, most of that happens quickly, and by the
the story comes to a true “fork in the road”, it ends altogether.
You get a bit of understanding, but not nearly enough, so a lot of inferring is going to be done.
In the end, a good story, with a lot happening, but one of which I would’ve liked to have seen more depth offered at certain points.
It’s a lot to take in, in less than 300 pages, but Katia Ulysse does a pretty good job.
Jacqueline and Kevin live in Baltimore with their three-year old daughter, Amber. Kevin has had trouble readjusting to being home, after his last tour in Iraq, and his marriage to Jacqueline is not what as it once was. However, the two still love each other and find a tether to that love via Amber.
After an earthquake rocks Jacqueline’s homeland of Haiti, she finds herself pining for the land she abandoned, and concerned for her parents (Paul and Annette)—with whom she has a complicated, and also contentious, relationship—but whose survival is yet unknown.
The book unfolds in quick, succinct chapters, with a lot of imagery offered via the inner thoughts of Jacqueline (an artist).
Jacqueline is a somewhat motherless child, and she holds a great deal of resentment for the way her parents disappeared from her life in favor of becoming jet setters.
At the same time, she’s worried she may no longer have the chance to mend that relationship, in the face of such a devastating catastrophe, and wonders if she’ll even have the opportunity to return to the home she once knew.
There’s an unspeakable tragedy, a reckoning, and a good deal of emotional insight throughout this book. At one point or another we’re given a glimpse into the psyche of each of the major characters.
Even so, most of that happens quickly, and by the
the story comes to a true “fork in the road”, it ends altogether.
You get a bit of understanding, but not nearly enough, so a lot of inferring is going to be done.
In the end, a good story, with a lot happening, but one of which I would’ve liked to have seen more depth offered at certain points.
January 28, 2018
This book is a devastating and heartbreaking look at PTSD, Haiti, and marriage. The writing is quick and engaging and I was immediately sucked into Jaqueline’s story. The narrative jumped around a little bit to hear the perspectives of the people closest to Jaqueline, but it didn’t bother me.
Be warned this could be a triggering novel if you’ve suffered loss of a child. This scene alone made me gasp and broke my heart although you could tell leading up to it that something was coming.
Thank you for sharing @theloudlibrarylady.
Be warned this could be a triggering novel if you’ve suffered loss of a child. This scene alone made me gasp and broke my heart although you could tell leading up to it that something was coming.
Thank you for sharing @theloudlibrarylady.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2019
I enjoyed this book, but I felt like it was too much for 200 pages. I loved the concept, and I loved the story-telling, I just wish everything hadn't felt so rushed. There is a seamless time skip of about a year in the book, and I just don't feel like it makes much sense in the grander picture of everything. Additionally, I had a difficult time relating to the characters because I felt like they weren't developed enough.
Read
May 6, 2018I had very convoluted thoughts about this one, might review at some point, but right now library books are further down along the line in my schedule. Sorry about that!
A big content notice that is also a spoiler. Death-related:
Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library
A big content notice that is also a spoiler. Death-related:
Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library
January 27, 2018
A massive earthquake has shaken Haiti and everyone is affected. “They did not die alone. Black, white, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, sacatra, and griffe met the same fate, but there was no comfort in that. Spilt blood ran as red as the Massacre River.“ That is the opening of this novel and kind of sets the tone for what is an arousing look at contemporary Haiti and Haitians both home and in the US. Jacqueline was not in Haiti, during the earthquake, in fact she hadn’t been there in 25 years. She was sent away at ten by her mother to a boarding school to presumably give Jacqueline a better chance at life. However her parents are still in Haiti and Jacqueline now living in Baltimore,MD is frantic trying to reach them in the days after the earthquake. Hundreds of calls, messages go unreturned and unanswered. The only thing Jacqueline can rightly assume is her parents must have perished in the rubble like thousands of others displayed on nightly newscasts. After about a month her mother calls her and nonchalantly informs Jacqueline that they are well and have been In Miami for the last month. What the....?
This interaction makes the reader perk up and pay full attention. You know that point in a book where you start speaking to yourself, I said hmmn this is going to be interesting. How could a mother be so callous, so indifferent. What could have possibly transpired between Mother and daughter to cause such behavior? So pain and worry quickly turn to anger and disappointment. Katia D. Ulysse does a good job here of drawing you into a story of grief and family dynamics. To tell you more would be spoiling the story, in fact I may have already written too much. Just know that it is a quick and engaging read with some heartbreaking moments, but it is a book that will sit with you for some time after you’ve put it down. Do we make the right choices as parents? How do our decisions affect our children later in life? Questions you will ponder as your heart aches along with Jacqueline. Thanks to Edelweiss and Akashic Books for an advanced ebook. Book is out and available now.
This interaction makes the reader perk up and pay full attention. You know that point in a book where you start speaking to yourself, I said hmmn this is going to be interesting. How could a mother be so callous, so indifferent. What could have possibly transpired between Mother and daughter to cause such behavior? So pain and worry quickly turn to anger and disappointment. Katia D. Ulysse does a good job here of drawing you into a story of grief and family dynamics. To tell you more would be spoiling the story, in fact I may have already written too much. Just know that it is a quick and engaging read with some heartbreaking moments, but it is a book that will sit with you for some time after you’ve put it down. Do we make the right choices as parents? How do our decisions affect our children later in life? Questions you will ponder as your heart aches along with Jacqueline. Thanks to Edelweiss and Akashic Books for an advanced ebook. Book is out and available now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2019
First, I have to note that the blurb on this book was incredibly misleading. I'd argue that, in some ways, it's simply false. And the truth is, if it had been more accurate, I likely wouldn't have picked up the book to begin with. Much as I respect Akashic Books and have loved their books in the past, I have to think the primary purpose of the blurb was selling books, vs. accuracy.
While some of Ulysse's prose is lovely, this is a somewhat plot-less and unevenly paced novel, and considering how sympathetic the characters Should be (based on what they go through), they're incredibly unsympathetic, to the point where I got more and more tired of reading about them, and could only care about the most minor characters in the book. There's also a real lack of plot, partly because the book spends a great deal of time building and building, and then speeds through what seems to count for a climax and ending. It would be insanely predictable also, if the blurb were accurate.
In general, this feels like a book that was rushed to publication, and perhaps pulled together from a number of short stories that were never destined to be a strong novel. In my opinion, it needed quite a bit more work, this only made worse by the fact that the powerful themes and events which are showcased on the back of the book as being primary to plot and conflict--the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010 and a vet's battles with PTSD--serve more as backstory and jumping-off points than getting any real depth or focus, to the extent that I can't help half-wondering if they're mentioned so prominently in order to sell books and make this seem more unique than it actually is, vs. being relevant.
So, all told, I would not recommend this book. I feel a bit cheated for having so looked forward to it and then spent time on it, honestly.
While some of Ulysse's prose is lovely, this is a somewhat plot-less and unevenly paced novel, and considering how sympathetic the characters Should be (based on what they go through), they're incredibly unsympathetic, to the point where I got more and more tired of reading about them, and could only care about the most minor characters in the book. There's also a real lack of plot, partly because the book spends a great deal of time building and building, and then speeds through what seems to count for a climax and ending. It would be insanely predictable also, if the blurb were accurate.
In general, this feels like a book that was rushed to publication, and perhaps pulled together from a number of short stories that were never destined to be a strong novel. In my opinion, it needed quite a bit more work, this only made worse by the fact that the powerful themes and events which are showcased on the back of the book as being primary to plot and conflict--the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010 and a vet's battles with PTSD--serve more as backstory and jumping-off points than getting any real depth or focus, to the extent that I can't help half-wondering if they're mentioned so prominently in order to sell books and make this seem more unique than it actually is, vs. being relevant.
So, all told, I would not recommend this book. I feel a bit cheated for having so looked forward to it and then spent time on it, honestly.
January 14, 2018
I really enjoyed this book, and give it a strong 4 stars.
When the Earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, no one was prepared for the devastation to come. Personally impacted, Jacqueline, being from Haiti and now living in Baltimore, waits anxiously to hear whether or not her parents survived. With a young daughter and an ex-Marine husband, who suffers with PTSD, she navigates the news she hears and explores her heritage.
This was a fast moving book, and kept my attention, and in my opinion, could have been even longer to fully address some of the pieces. There were a lot of pieces and personal aspects that the characters experience in this book - some of which I would have loved to hear/read more about. Such as Jacqueline's experience teaching in the schools, or Kevin's effects of PTSD - which I felt like were addressed and well portrayed, but then became just more of a minor part of the story. The ending felt a little rushed/shortened, as did some of the elements throughout the book along the way. But as a reader, I was left wanting more, but was not left feeling like there were holes or unanswered questions - Which is a good thing.
This book definitely made me interested in checking out some of Ulysse's other books - especially with my growing up in Baltimore and her experience as a teacher in Baltimore for 12 years. And I appreciated learning a bit more about a culture that I'm not very familiar with.
When the Earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, no one was prepared for the devastation to come. Personally impacted, Jacqueline, being from Haiti and now living in Baltimore, waits anxiously to hear whether or not her parents survived. With a young daughter and an ex-Marine husband, who suffers with PTSD, she navigates the news she hears and explores her heritage.
This was a fast moving book, and kept my attention, and in my opinion, could have been even longer to fully address some of the pieces. There were a lot of pieces and personal aspects that the characters experience in this book - some of which I would have loved to hear/read more about. Such as Jacqueline's experience teaching in the schools, or Kevin's effects of PTSD - which I felt like were addressed and well portrayed, but then became just more of a minor part of the story. The ending felt a little rushed/shortened, as did some of the elements throughout the book along the way. But as a reader, I was left wanting more, but was not left feeling like there were holes or unanswered questions - Which is a good thing.
This book definitely made me interested in checking out some of Ulysse's other books - especially with my growing up in Baltimore and her experience as a teacher in Baltimore for 12 years. And I appreciated learning a bit more about a culture that I'm not very familiar with.
February 18, 2018
This book is not good. There is a lot of pain in these pages, but none of it is allowed to breathe, some of it is not dealt with well, and some is introduced briefly only to never be explained or brought up again.
Spoilers, if you can call them that, to follow.
At the beginning this book is about a Haitian ex-pat dealing with the fallout of the 2010 earthquake. We linger in that pain for about the first 50 pages but then her parents are abruptly alive but they didn’t tell her right away and a year has passed.
Her husband also has PTSD, and that definitely is not given its chance to breathe. There’s some religious trauma that’s mentioned once and never again, and obviously there’s the stuff with her parents that gets the most space but not enough as its should.
And then she goes to Haiti and her husband is really angry because he thinks its not safe, and although he’s acting awful apparently he’s totally justified because she lets her 3 year old daughter drown in a pool the second day there, which is the point at which I was done with this book.
Yes, good fiction writers do mine the depths of pain in their work. But pain itself is not a substitute for depth.
Spoilers, if you can call them that, to follow.
At the beginning this book is about a Haitian ex-pat dealing with the fallout of the 2010 earthquake. We linger in that pain for about the first 50 pages but then her parents are abruptly alive but they didn’t tell her right away and a year has passed.
Her husband also has PTSD, and that definitely is not given its chance to breathe. There’s some religious trauma that’s mentioned once and never again, and obviously there’s the stuff with her parents that gets the most space but not enough as its should.
And then she goes to Haiti and her husband is really angry because he thinks its not safe, and although he’s acting awful apparently he’s totally justified because she lets her 3 year old daughter drown in a pool the second day there, which is the point at which I was done with this book.
Yes, good fiction writers do mine the depths of pain in their work. But pain itself is not a substitute for depth.
February 27, 2018
I have SO MANY FEELINGS about this book. So many. Jacqueline and Kevin and Annette and Paul are such complex characters, yet they aren't really. There's so much here about loss and hurt and family and marriage and relationships and wealth and tradition. It made me happy and upset and angry and squicky and sad and hopeful and satisfied and much more. This is one of those books where you sit down to read the first few pages and look up 84 pages later wondering what happened. Katia Ulysse sets the stage well and guides us through to the end. She breaks your heart and puts it back together again, over and over, in a mere 200 pages.
January 22, 2023
This was a quick but interesting read. I felt like overall it was uneventful, and I struggled to understand the point of the story Ulysse was trying to convey. I felt like the first half of the book was leading up to something that would be tied together in the end, but the ending seemed very rushed as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2019
More like 3.5 stars
This book could've been better with more character development and a more complete story. I wasn't able to empathize with Jacqueline and I also feel like the story abruptly ended.
This book could've been better with more character development and a more complete story. I wasn't able to empathize with Jacqueline and I also feel like the story abruptly ended.
March 14, 2018
There's a decent short story hiding somewhere in this cliché-ridden hodgepodge of a novel.
December 30, 2024
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. ~~Psalm 135: 15-18.
~~Our protagonist, Jacqueline Florestant, is safe in New York City when the devastating earthquake hit her Haiti, her place of birth, in 2010. Glued to the TV, watching as the rescue efforts unfold, she is terrified that her parents were severely injured or killed. She tries calling over and over, but the calls do not go through. Ironically, unlike most of the citizens of Haiti, her parents are wealthy. While her father sustained a major injury when their store collapsed, he and her mother were flown out to Florida so he could receive expert care. But in her typical self-centered way, Jacqueline's mother didn't think to contact her daughter for weeks, leaving her to mourn their possible deaths. In this short, but emotionally powerful novel, Ulysse explores what happens to families when mouths don't speak the words that are most important--when other priorities are placed above familial love.
First two sentences: They did not die alone. Black, white, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, sacatra, and griffe met the same fate, but there was no comfort in that.
Vital statistics: Author's home: Born in Haiti, she has been a teacher in Baltimore public schools for thirteen years.
Year written: 2018
Length: 208 pages
Setting: New York City and Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Genre: contemporary fiction
Read if: You enjoy character studies that pack an emotional punch.
My two cents: Ulysse has a compelling story to tell, but (in my opinion) the events that occurred when Jacqueline returned to Haiti took the story arc off the emotional deep end. Given a rating of 2.5 stars or "Above average."
Other good quotes: Jacqueline knew the man enjoyed listening to his own voice. She would not deprive him of this pleasure now.
~~Her imagination was now a womb of toxins.
~~Each canvas was a little grave into which she poured a memory from the thousands that percolated in her head. A drop of paint was a broken dam, washing her clean and drowning her simultaneously.
~~Our protagonist, Jacqueline Florestant, is safe in New York City when the devastating earthquake hit her Haiti, her place of birth, in 2010. Glued to the TV, watching as the rescue efforts unfold, she is terrified that her parents were severely injured or killed. She tries calling over and over, but the calls do not go through. Ironically, unlike most of the citizens of Haiti, her parents are wealthy. While her father sustained a major injury when their store collapsed, he and her mother were flown out to Florida so he could receive expert care. But in her typical self-centered way, Jacqueline's mother didn't think to contact her daughter for weeks, leaving her to mourn their possible deaths. In this short, but emotionally powerful novel, Ulysse explores what happens to families when mouths don't speak the words that are most important--when other priorities are placed above familial love.
First two sentences: They did not die alone. Black, white, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, sacatra, and griffe met the same fate, but there was no comfort in that.
Vital statistics: Author's home: Born in Haiti, she has been a teacher in Baltimore public schools for thirteen years.
Year written: 2018
Length: 208 pages
Setting: New York City and Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Genre: contemporary fiction
Read if: You enjoy character studies that pack an emotional punch.
My two cents: Ulysse has a compelling story to tell, but (in my opinion) the events that occurred when Jacqueline returned to Haiti took the story arc off the emotional deep end. Given a rating of 2.5 stars or "Above average."
Other good quotes: Jacqueline knew the man enjoyed listening to his own voice. She would not deprive him of this pleasure now.
~~Her imagination was now a womb of toxins.
~~Each canvas was a little grave into which she poured a memory from the thousands that percolated in her head. A drop of paint was a broken dam, washing her clean and drowning her simultaneously.
January 22, 2018
I absolutely love an author who knows how to weave words in such a way that the reader cannot escape the story, Katia D. Ulysse, did just that! I loved all of the characters and saw each one, individually. When the characters were blended and their stories revealed, I could not help but imagined the emotions and heartbreaks of their lives.
Themes of lost time, love, secrets, blame, tradition, parenting, imperialism, religion, poverty, death, hope and love of country were ever present and added to the emotional roller coaster of Mouths Don't Speak.
Death, we always want to know why, only to realize, we cannot.
Blend of French and Creole made reading a bit more challenging, but the imagined sounds of the language will have to make up for my pronunciation😊 I would like to listen to this novel in the future.
Curious to know the symbolic meaning of the peacock in this novel. Also the symbolism of the sea and Haitian culture.
How much of this fictional story is that of the author? One has to wonder, as life is sometimes stranger than fiction...
Themes of lost time, love, secrets, blame, tradition, parenting, imperialism, religion, poverty, death, hope and love of country were ever present and added to the emotional roller coaster of Mouths Don't Speak.
Death, we always want to know why, only to realize, we cannot.
Blend of French and Creole made reading a bit more challenging, but the imagined sounds of the language will have to make up for my pronunciation😊 I would like to listen to this novel in the future.
Curious to know the symbolic meaning of the peacock in this novel. Also the symbolism of the sea and Haitian culture.
How much of this fictional story is that of the author? One has to wonder, as life is sometimes stranger than fiction...
April 24, 2018
Jacqueline is an immigrant from Haiti, married to an ex-Marine with several combat tours behind him and untreated PTSD. They have a young daughter.
Jacqueline was neglected by her upper class Haitian parents as a child. When she was very young, she had been left in a boarding school while her parents toured the world. She had minimal parental contact from that point onward.
Nevertheless, she is frantic when she cannot contact them after the Haiti earthquake. She dials their unresponsive phone obsessively as the days turn into weeks. And yet, sometimes the unexpected happens.
Jacqueline decides to return to Haiti with her daughter to renew family ties and to reconnect with her home country. Her husband refuses to go with her as he considers the chaos in Haiti to be a virtual state of war.
Tragedy happens. The marriage is tested to its limits and then once again we return to the Haitian class divisions.
This is actually a very short novel, with many different themes braided into it. They are all interesting themes, but I felt that they were worthy of more development. Too many themes, like too many spices in a dish, can muddle the story. In addition this fairly bleak novel was tied up with a bow at the end, which was rather unexpected and I'm not sure fit with the rest of the novel. Can trauma be solved that easily?
However, it was a compelling read, that kept me quite interested. I also was fascinated by this look at the wealthy in Haiti and this view of the country. This is an interesting novel by a young writer– I would definitely be interested in her next book.
3.5 stars
I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.
Jacqueline was neglected by her upper class Haitian parents as a child. When she was very young, she had been left in a boarding school while her parents toured the world. She had minimal parental contact from that point onward.
Nevertheless, she is frantic when she cannot contact them after the Haiti earthquake. She dials their unresponsive phone obsessively as the days turn into weeks. And yet, sometimes the unexpected happens.
Jacqueline decides to return to Haiti with her daughter to renew family ties and to reconnect with her home country. Her husband refuses to go with her as he considers the chaos in Haiti to be a virtual state of war.
Tragedy happens. The marriage is tested to its limits and then once again we return to the Haitian class divisions.
This is actually a very short novel, with many different themes braided into it. They are all interesting themes, but I felt that they were worthy of more development. Too many themes, like too many spices in a dish, can muddle the story. In addition this fairly bleak novel was tied up with a bow at the end, which was rather unexpected and I'm not sure fit with the rest of the novel. Can trauma be solved that easily?
However, it was a compelling read, that kept me quite interested. I also was fascinated by this look at the wealthy in Haiti and this view of the country. This is an interesting novel by a young writer– I would definitely be interested in her next book.
3.5 stars
I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.
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