Vale of Tears: A Novel from Haiti

by Paulette Poujol Oriol, Dolores A. Schaefer (Translator), Edwidge Danticat (Foreword by)

Translated from the French by Dolores A. Schaefer. Vale Of Tears is a stark, meditative, and vivid exploration of Coralie Santeuil's life through a series of flashbacks she has on New Year's eve as she makes fourteen stops while walking from one end of the busy city of Port-au-Prince to the other in a last quest to save her life and retain her dignity. Although the novel is set in the period around the Second World War, it is in many ways a book about contemporary Haiti. We pause to wonder what happens to the privileged when their world disintegrates. We contemplate thesurvival skills of the poor. Vale of Tears offers a critical reading of the class system and corruption which plague the country. Paulette Poujol-Oriol is one of Haiti's most celebrated novelists.

204 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 1996

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coralie's decline told in parallel tilme. The translation is a bit forced, but I thoroughly enjoyed the inclusion of haitian excerpts. Particularly informative about the structure of status within Haitian society.The Spring, 2011 Journal of Haitian Studies has several pieces on the author and her work.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished Vale of Tears: A Novel from Haiti and honestly felt tired in the best way, like after a long hike. Oriol, Paulette Poujol stretches the story across decades, and the scene where two old friends meet at a bus station and can't think of a thing to say carried more weight than any big speech. The timeline hops around, which cost me some momentum. Who this is for: readers who like life-sized, quiet stories. Who should pass: anybody who wants plot twists every ten pages.