Zo

by Xander Miller

Set in Haiti, a breathtaking love story—a saga of passion, tenacity, and hope in the face of disaster.

We first meet Zwazo Delalun, or Zo, during his childhood, in the 1990s, in a fishing village on the western tip of Haiti. An orphan, he learns to swim and fish, then to harvest almonds and cut cane. He travels the island in his youth, finding work wherever he can. One morning, while hauling cement in the broiling sun, he meets Anaya, a nursing student who is sipping cherry juice under a tree. Their attraction is instantaneous, fierce; what grows between them feels like the destiny-changing love Zo has yearned for. But Anaya's father, protective and ambitious on behalf of his only daughter, cannot accept that a poor, uneducated man such as Zo is good enough for her, and he sends Anaya away to Port-au-Prince. Then something even more shattering happens: on 12 January 2010, a massive earthquake churns the ground beneath the capital city, destroying nearly everything in its wake, leaving the dead unnumbered, and forever altering the course of life for those who survive.

At once suspenseful, heartrending, and gorgeously lyrical, Zo is an unforgettable journey of heroism, grief, redemption, and persistence against all odds. With a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story at its core, this novel brings us vividly to Haiti at a moment of historic tragedy and transformation, as it tells a luminous tale of unlikely love.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

370 pages, ebook

First published August 11, 2020

About the author

XANDER MILLER has lived in Ohio, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Pennsylvania. He worked at national parks and monuments, and as an emergency medical technician. After the 2010 earthquake, he traveled to Haiti, where he served as a volunteer EMT and founded a nonprofit called Ambulance for Haiti; he also met his wife, Naomi, in her hometown of Petit-Goâve. He is currently a physician assistant, and Zo is his first novel.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not interested in another white man telling POC stories.

"Upgraded" to 1 star cause I'm petty and some people need something to whine about.

[Woldy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My name is Woldy. I am born and raised in Haiti, and have been living in the USA for the last years. I have known the author for more than ten years. We met when he was working in Haiti. In fact, I helped him to speak Haitian creole, which he does now speak very well. And he helped me to speak English. The author asked for my advice especially with the main character of the book. Zo is an orphan in a fishing village who overcomes many challenges to become a hero at the moment of a great disaster, the earthquake in Haiti. He is a brouetye, a man who pulls a wagon, and he uses this wagon to take wounded people to a hospital. I was in Port-au-Prince when that earthquake happened, and saw many terrible things. I spent many hours talking to the author about that event and the things I have seen. The author asked for my advice in making Zo as true to life as possible. Zo is a laborer who falls in love and tries to save the love of his life from the rubble of the nursing school. My friend was trapped in the rubble of the nursing school for 72 hours, but she is alive today.
I like this story because it makes a hero of my own countryman. A hero who I have something in common with. Too much I see that people think of Haiti as a poor place with desperate people, but if you go you will see it is a hard place full of kind people. I think this book does a good job showing the truth about my country. Thank you.

[Reid Synenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Zo" is legitimately one of the best books I've ever read and easily one of my new favorite books. I had the privilege of traveling to Haiti a few years ago and met so many wonderful people. Miller brings this spirit to life in his characters like Zo, Anaya, Ozias, amongst others. Haiti itself perhaps plays the most important character and is written about with such love and care you find yourself transfixed despite the inevitable tragedy and heartbreak you know is coming. I couldn't put "Zo" down once I started - powering through the last 150 pages in two days. Do yourself a favor and start reading "Zo" today.

[Tracett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm overlooking white person telling POC story due to his work in helping Haiti during hard times. The story told seems honest and true to the society and infrastructure of the Haiti community, warts and all. While there were bits that I sped read through, this was overall a spirited and compulsive read. So many characters that I wish had the opportunity to meet in person.

[Jen Sainty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another book that initially captivated me by the cover, and once I read the description that it was set in Haiti, I was sold. I mistakenly initially assumed that it was written by a West Indian author, but on further research realised that Xander Miller was an American that visited Haiti in 2010 because of the devastating earthquake, and must have fallen in love with it then. The prose is simplistic yet descriptive, and in one word, delicious. Enter a world of white cliffs, cold beers, hot grass and green mountains, that delivered from start to end.

[Terri Laks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and compelling read about Haiti, the earthquake and love-
I could not put this book down-It is beautifully written.

[Mark Laks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. A love story set against the backdrop of a devastating earthquake that shook the foundations of every Haitian community and family. Two people, in love and seemingly an endless amount of obstacles at every turn conspiring to keep them apart. Larger than life characters, colorful conversations, and adventure around every corner. A wonderfully told story that makes me want to know more about Haiti. I hope this novel is the first of many to come from Xander Miller, a great writer and wonderful story teller.

[Cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I said I'd write the review (pasted below) once it was published, because I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. I wanted people to maybe find this book and maybe love it--books deserve that much. But, here's the thing. I've been thinking about just how this book has hit me, and I realised one thing: This is like Porgy and Bess.
Porgy and Bess, for those who aren't familiar with musicals and broadway, is regarded as the quintessential Black Opera, and a classic American work. It's most famous piece, the aching lullaby "Summertime" is a favourite of sopranos. It debuted with a completely Black cast in 1935 (which was, admittedly, revolutionary at the time), and has not officially (although, probably at local/regional/international theatres and through certain arias) been performed without a fully Black, classically trained, cast. It was written by George Gershwin, jazz musician and composer (white), his brother Ira Gershwin, songwriter (white), and DuBose Herman, author (white). The musical, although a classic, as you might imagine has not aged incredibly well...although it opened up the stage to Black performers, and even launched a few careers, it gave way to criticisms of portrayal of stereotypes of Black people, noted in a 1939 University of Minnesota production, and later-denied interview with Duke Ellington, and more serious scrutiny in the civil rights movement of the 1950's to 1970's. Many Black actors and performers didn't want to be a part of Porgy, for any given reason, but likely because they didn't feel it honored their experiences or justified their involvement. Grace Bumbry, who performed the role at the Met in 1985, has a famous quote on the matter;

"I thought it beneath me, I felt I had worked far too hard, that we had come far too far to have to retrogress to 1935. My way of dealing with it was to see that it was really a piece of Americana, of American history, whether we liked it or not. Whether I sing it or not, it was still going to be there."

No matter how beautiful the story, how 'authentic' the music, it is still not a piece of art written by and for Black people. And that changes how it's received. That changes its significance. If it's created by a white person, it doesn't matter that Black people are performing the roles, because ultimately, it was made for a white audience, or white reception. That's how this book feels to me--and it certainly won't be coming out at a great time (following a summer that heralded, at least in my experience, the biggest Black Lives Matter protests in recent history).

So with that in mind... here's the ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Like many people, for me, reading is escapism. I love to read stories set in different or new places or times--from foreign countries, to distant fantastical worlds, or an era through which I haven't lived. When I saw that this was a Romeo and Juliet story (not strict adaptation, but similar) set in Haiti in the 90's and reaching to the 2010 earthquake, I think I was intrigued--some kind of Shakespeare-adjacent, ultimate story was woven into the pages. The author was an EMT on site of the crisis, which made me both wary (is this going to be a book a la vibe of voluntourism?) and excited--someone who witnessed and likely absorbed the stories of others affected by such a life-changing (and in many cases, ending) event, with an idea of romance, of young, fire-filled, restless passion and love that survives distances and catastrophe. This book follows the heightened, heartbreaking and family-defying love that a Romeo and Juliet entails, and in these moments, was so lovely. Miller shines, understandably, when he writes about anything medical. I can believe his words, the narration of characters and their thoughts as they treat malarial symptoms, describe medication or talk about the social or class expectations of nurses and physicians. The book also lends itself to the natural, and there's something effervescent about the way the sea and the landscape of the greater Antilles are described. The conversations were tender, candid--and when Zo experienced love, it was just as emotional as it was corporeal. The language was overall beautiful.

However.
One particular aspect of english-language books that take place in foreign countries, whether translated or original, is the use of italics. When I read, I use the device of italics as a litmus test to see just how...cultural they are. You see, in translated texts, the italicized words usually represent publications, titles of art works, or cultural objects that simply do not have an equivalent, or would not make sense in English. But in english-language texts, for some reason, italicized words are everywhere because apparently if they weren't you wouldn't be able to tell that those words are in a different language and that they mean something. What they are used for most is for cultural flavour. It's usually food, or a colloquial term for a type of thing, but the worst, my pet peeve of pet peeves perhaps, is when it is used in quotation, for example, as we are given in one point of the book:

"Pa di sa," Pikan said. "Don't say that."

...It means the same thing. Why repeat the same thing? 'Well', you might say, 'maybe it's for emphasis.' Then why not say "pa di sa" twice? Why not say it in the same language repeated, or with a different inflection? 'Maybe it's to introduce us to the meaning of the phrase,' you reason. Regardless, it's a small, isolated moment. It happens once--no big fuss.
But y'all, this (language followed by translation or vice versa) happens more than just this one instance--it happens an average of 3 times a chapter (and this doesn't include the one-off words that almost satisfy the criteria, so not within dialogue or not fully exact translation), and with 22 chapters, that's ~66 defined words, all in ~332 pages. You get a new word definition, this condescending little motif, every five pages on average. I started (and stopped at one point) counting because I started getting annoyed with how often this device was used, in a way that feels all too familiar to language learning classes. In addition, there are many words--like 'martillo', 'arondissement' and 'banan fri' with which a reader will vaguely be familiar, and because they are also immediately or contextually defined upon their introduction, do not need to be italicized. But they are. Why?
Why.

To put it frankly, and probably bring up what has bubbled to the surface at this point, No. I didn't want the fact that a (probably middle class or better, certainly American) white man wrote a narrative about an orphaned, impoverished black boy from another country as he grew up to effect my perception of the book, but time and time again, the disparity between the lived experience of the characters and the author was just too present. Mostly, this impression was made because of a recurring, plainly stupid, device of italicizing words that didn't need to be texturally different. But, too...picking it up, reading the first chapter, this was not a story told for the sake of the character, but for the sake of the reader. It was not a full story of a Haitian boy, as it was often, as evident in the bookends, a story of a Haitian allegorical life as seen through the eyes of an American. Things are redundantly contextualized through an almost colonialist lens, and Zo started to look like more of a fictionalized martyr than a real person. Had I not been fundamentally opposed to DNF'ing, I think I would have passed the judgement on this book that I anticipated, that it's a white person telling a black person's story, and missed all of the fairly good parts about Zo and Anaya falling in love and navigating the challenge of being young adults and living in the world they do. Although the author has a lived experience in Haiti, and the event that moves the action to its peak in the book (certainly, authors of fiction are entitled to create and narrate experiences outside of their own) this portrayal largely lacks an awareness of the metaphorical lived experience of the character, and even if it doesn't or isn't supposed to, I'm being given that impression by something as insignificant--yet wholly unavoidable--as italicized words. Even in his author's note, of all places, he admits that "[He is] not a Haiti expert." and wanted to write a love story. Cool. He did it, He could have done it without! the italics, and maybe even have written his own, instead of using the skin of a black boy (sounds insidious...kinda feels that way). Maybe then I could have felt something from the beautiful, but currently empty text on the page. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like I am seeing Black characters as objects to evoke sympathy of a white-written narrative on a stage.

TLDR: I read it, I guess. It was good if you ignore the america-dupe-context of the first chapter or when it's not busy unnecessarily explaining a term of italicized Haitian Creole...but when you get a bad taste in your mouth, it's hard to shake. It felt like a Caribbean Porgy and Bess. As the author states in his note, there are plenty more Caribbean authors with lived experience and writing that may or may not be better, but is certainly applied in a more practical way to a narrative that suits it. And with far less italics.

ARC via Knopf (PRH), through my place of work.

[Suzanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are a lot of nice things I could say about the form and structure of this novel, but the author waits until the author's note at the end of the book to really play his cards. If this section came first, I would have walked away. I didn't do my own research first, which is my bad. In this case, we've got a story about the poorest country in the Western hemisphere told by a white guy from the US. Using Haitian voices to tell a Haitian story is super problematic.

He talks about writing a love story (okay) that wove through disaster (eh), and the only place he could IMAGINE setting it was Haiti. Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope.

I get it. He volunteered after the earthquake. He worked hard to raise money to do something or other for the island. But he's a white dude who dropped in for a few months, met a lovely woman, and is now BUILDING HIS WRITING CAREER on the backs of the Haitian people. That's gross. It's rude. It's anti-Black. It's racist. It's everything Kay talks about in her review and comments here. (Included in the comments and via Kay's profile are links to Caribbean authors telling their own stories. Let's read them.)

I'm glad I didn't buy this book. If you'd like to read more about the Caribbean from the Caribbean, this is not the book for you and never will be.

[Walde Desroches · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh woww that description make me feel like this book will be more than interesting guys. So don’t hesitate to start reading the whole content.

[Deborah Quazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

First novel. Total page turner. Backdrop is Haiti before and after the earthquake - love story - story of the impact of class in any culture.

[Amieberkos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart and soul of Haiti

Beautiful prose. Garrulous and lovable characters. It is a Love story at its core inspired by Haiti’s unique people, geography and circumstances.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

While set in Haiti, this beautifully written novel has universal meaning in the ages-old rich vs. poor class struggle intruding into the lives of 2 people in love. Without spoiling the story, the writing is very literary, pointed and vivid made all the more real with the backdrop of Haiti and the 2010 cataclysm. In addition to the 2 main characters whose story is compelling enough, the novel is populated by numerous fleshed-out supporting cast which flavor the Creole melange that permeates throughout. The growing suspense as the story proceeds had a dual effect on this reader: he was both reticent to turn the pages fearing the worst but certainly had to hoping for the best, all the while moved forward by the author's romantic and realistic writing. As this is Xander Miller's 1st novel, I can only look forward to a bright future of many more.

[Karen Ashmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zo is hard working, loyal, in love. But he is poor. Anaya is passionate, wealthy, and in love. The story of their relationship battling objections from her father. Takes place in Haiti and refers to real practices and places in Haiti and the occasional authentic kreyol phrase. Actual events take us through the 2010 earthquake and the subsequent cholera epidemic. Written by a white American male but he is married to an Ayisyen woman so I imagine she edited much of it.

[Diane D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I plowed through this book and was trying to slow down my pace toward the end because I didn't want it to end. Beautiful prose, excellent story. Can't wait to read what's next by this author.

[Sean Kinch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, inhaled it. Imagine Gabriel Garcia-Marquez writing a love story set around the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

[Sam Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

« She thought of the first night of their honeymoon on Mòn Nwa, drinking white wine in the terraced garden after midnight while Zo described all the classes of love as he knew them. Desperate love, motherly love, starving love. One for comfort, another for affection, one to remind a man of his manhood, and another to make him forget. There was functionary love, as a atomic and automatic as an act of defecation, and about as interesting. When the wind died down and the city was calm beneath them, he’d told her about obliterate love, a love in which to lose yourself without knowing it, like drowning in a sea that is the exact temperature of your blood so that you don’t even know when you succumb. »

[Karin Mika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard a lot of good things about this book before ordering it, but I almost abandoned it in Chapter One. The story takes place in Haiti, which is, an overall poor country that has also had to deal with earthquakes and epidemics. The story started out focusing on Zo, a poor, uneducated laborer whose life seems to revolve around making the women around him happy sexually. The story seemed to focus so much on sexual prowess that it felt like the book was going to include far too many inappropriate stereotypes to be good at conveying a worthwhile story.

But I kept with it, and I think I was rewarded, although I wasn't as enamoured with the book as many are. The book was, in some ways, a fable in the style of Romeo and Juliet and the Arthurian Legends. There are the star-crossed lovers who come from different social spheres but cannot deny their love. There is the disapproving father who spirits his daughter away to keep the lovers apart. There is a quest for love by Zo, and ultimately a tragedy that hinders a happy ending. However, there is also redemption and heroism within the tragedy and afterwards.

I rooted for the characters, as the author would have wanted me to do, but this is the second book in a row (for me) where some of the sadness within the plot was caused by unnecessary miscommunication, or failure to say anything that would have solved a big problem so much earlier. This device enabled the author to put more fable into the fable, but I found it frustrating.

Overall, I developed healthy appreciation for the challenges of life in Haiti. During the timeframe of the book, Haiti had to deal with a devastating earthquake as well as a cholera epidemic. They did this with almost no resources other than the heroism of those who took it upon themselves to help others as much as they possibly could.

[Gwenn Mangine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

Having lived in Haiti for over six years, including living there during 12 January 2010, this book was so very near to my heart. I often question blan who write about Haiti. But personally, I feel that Miller did a great job of respecting the culture.

This is a love story woven through time-- not only between the books two protagonists, but also for a country rich and vibrant with love and community and will. While "happily ever afters" are hard to come by in a place like Haiti, I have long held dear to the words a friend of mind who said, "Haiti is the place where the impossible is possible, and the possible is impossible." So I have learned to not judge any outcome in Haiti.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels like a white guy writing a book about Haiti. Still good though.

[Britt.and.Lit Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel surrounds the story of a very poor, orphaned, Haitian young man named Zo and the Romeo and Juliet style love story that ensues when he meets and falls in love with Anaya. Anaya is a nursing student and the daughter of a prominent physician. In addition to all the expected problems that arise from a romance between two people from such different socioeconomic classes, they also face the monumental tragedy of the 7.0 Mw earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010. I disagree with those who have said in reviews that since the author is not Haitian he shouldn’t be telling this story. Authors have told others’ stories since the advent of books. As long as they are well-researched I have no difficulties in this regard. I do think this would have made a better screenplay than a novel. There wasn’t a great deal of character development outside the realm of the building romance between Zo and Anaya. I feel like in a movie or series this problem would be negated in seeing the characters and their emotions on-screen. In the book, it just was missing some of the character development that the reader needs to better empathize and connect with the main characters. It may have been better if it alternated between first-person narratives with Zo and Anaya.

[Enobong]

A Romeo and Juliet love saga set in the aftermath of the 2010 Haitian earthquake.

Miller’s debut is a provocative modern rendition of the Romeo and Juliet story. Set against the backdrop of a country ravaged by nature and written in raw and stimulating prose, Zo takes the reader to the limits of what a person will do for love. Unfortunately, you lost me at Romeo and Juliet, my least favourite Shakespeare play. The writing was pedestrian and it was another story in which the author augmented a slurry of (sometimes violent) sex scenes with narration.

Not for me but it might be perfect so those who love the tragic love story.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a love story between two characters, but it was also a love letter to Haiti and its people. It was a difficult read, in that it deals with the mass destruction, death, and outbreak of disease after the 2010 earthquake. It was a complex character study, beautifully and lyrically written, and compelling to read. I highly recommend.

**I was hesitant about this book at first because it was not written by a Haitian person, but I discovered that the author lived and worked in Haiti for years and married a Haitian woman. The integration of Haitian Creole feels like it comes from everyday use.

[Carrie Kiple · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a solid 3.5. It’s a bit too long winded to be a solid 4- I’m being a bit petty but sometimes the story meandered in a way that was aggravating, particularly the first half.
That said, it’s a beautiful story full of descriptions of a people so close to the US & SO far from the world we know. The story really takes an incredible turn when we get to the 2010 earthquake & becomes a page turner, full of tension & real stories that few of us knew. I mean, I knew there was an earthquake but this really takes you there and shines a light on the heroes, the tragedies, the devastation & the human spirit.
Historical fiction 12 years old.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zo is a sweeping love story between Zo, the incredibly poor laborer with a heart of gold, and Anaya, the daughter of a wealthy doctor and aspiring nursing student. We also can’t help but see that this book is a love letter from author Xander Miller to Haiti, his adoptive home during earthquake relief and birthplace to his wife.

I can see how this has gotten some problematic reviews. This is a story about BIPOC told by a white man. Not great, right?

I’ll admit I had some reservations about giving this book such a high rating when I finished it. But Miller doesn’t sweep in with white savior-ism. Zo and other Haitians were the first-responders and became national heroes. They might not have had the resources of the rest of the world, but they had love, persistence and pride guiding their rescue and rehabilitation efforts.

CW/TW: extreme poverty, malaria, medical trauma, earthquake, grief, amputation, violence

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally choose love stories but this is not your average romance and I would recommend it a million times over again. It is so beautifully written. It's not only a love story between a man and a woman, but between Haiti and its people, between friends and strangers, an old man and a young man who find strength in each other. This book truly conveys what it means to love your neighbor, how true love is supposed to be, how to persevere amid the worst of circumstances, and so much more. READ THIS BOOK!!!

[Zoë Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a raw, genuine love story. I loved the story, the characters and the description of life experiences, the hardships and the journey, the lows and the highs. In some ways so real and relatable and quotidian, and in other ways almost mythological in it's treatment of the events the characters lived through and the love the main characters feel. I listened to this as an audio book, which I really liked for the voice acting and pronunciation of words I wouldn't have known.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started and ended beautifully. There was a lot of wandering in the middle. Or it could just be my lack of interest in obsessive love that made those parts less engaging. I feel like the author’s second novel will be awesome as this one had some real potential, but just fell flat in some places.

[Amelia Clower · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Your life is your only riches. No one can promise you more than that.” This book took me back in time I was hiking through rural, unreached Haiti. All I know of Haiti is post- disaster. To me, this book told a story of trial, perseverance and relentless dedication to keep from being defeated… by situations, by things out of control, and by people. Thank you Xander.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting and much different from other books I’ve read. It was nice to read something set in a much different country than I live in. There are certain things I wasn’t very fond of, but as a whole, it was a decent read. Idk if I’d read it again, but it wasn’t a awful book. 3.5 stars from me.