What Storm, What Thunder, Myriam J.A. Chancy
What Storm, What Thunder, Myriam J.A. Chancy
8 Rating(s)
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What Storm, What Thunder
A Novel

Author: Myriam J.A. Chancy

Narrator: Ella Turenne

Unabridged: 11 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/05/2021


Synopsis

At the end of a long, sweltering day, as markets and businesses begin to close for the evening, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster? Richard, an expat and wealthy water-bottling executive with a secret daughter; the daughter, Anne, an architect who drafts affordable housing structures for a global NGO; a small-time drug trafficker, Leopold, who pines for a beautiful call girl; Sonia and her business partner, Dieudonné, who are followed by a man they believe is the vodou spirit of death; Didier, an emigrant musician who drives a taxi in Boston; Sara, a mother haunted by the ghosts of her children in an IDP camp; her husband, Olivier, an accountant forced to abandon the wife he loves; their son, Jonas, who haunts them both; and Ma Lou, the old woman selling produce in the market who remembers them all. Artfully weaving together these lives, witness is given to the desolation wreaked by nature and by man.
“Sublime. A striking and formidable novel by one of our most brilliant writers and storytellers.” — Edwidge Danticat
The audiobook edition of What Storm, What Thunder includes an exclusive introduction from author Myriam Chauncy about the 2010 earthquake in Haiti that inspired this novel, as well as the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti earlier this year. In her own voice and signature poignant and vivid prose, Myriam reflects on her efforts to humanize a catastrophe and provide listeners with a means to understand the incredible strength and spirit of a nation in crisis.

About Myriam J.A. Chancy

MYRIAM J. A. CHANCY was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A Guggenheim Fellow, she currently holds the Hartley Burr Alexander Chair in the Humanities at Scripps College in California. She is the author of four books of literary criticism and four novels. Her first novel, Spirit of Haiti, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Best First Book, Canada/Caribbean) in 2004. The Loneliness of Angels won the Guyana Prize for Literature Caribbean Award (Best Fiction) and was shortlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature in 2011.


Reviews

Goodreads review by BookOfCinz on December 20, 2021

The author said, This novel is dedicated to the 250,000 to 300,000 individuals estimated to have perished in January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti. When you pick up a book and this is the dedication you know you are in for an emotional, moving, tender and brutal read. That is what you are in when y......more

Goodreads review by Barbara on December 06, 2021

On Jan. 12, 2010, Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake that killed 300,000 and left millions destitute. I recall that earthquake and remember feeling very terrible for those poor people. Author Myriam J.A. Chancy has created an impressive novel that illuminates how that event crushed the souls......more

Goodreads review by Rosh on October 07, 2021

In a Nutshell: This would have been a fabulous book had I chosen to read it than hear it. In 2010, an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 hit near Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. With the epicentre just some kilometres away from the capital, multiple aftershocks, a resultant localised tsunami, and an o......more

Goodreads review by Thomas on January 12, 2025

Unique multi-point-of-view novel that follows a diverse cast of characters right before and right after the massive, deadly earthquake of 2010 hits Haiti. Poignant themes of grief and disconnection following natural disaster at the intersection of different identities (e.g., class, race). Unfortunat......more

Goodreads review by Emily on June 30, 2022

A memorable collection of voices amidst not only destruction, but compassion and healing. Tackling the emotional, physical, and interpersonal wounds inflicted by natural disaster, poverty, grief, our cast of characters are striking, expressive, and real in the most important ways.......more