Award-winning novelist Edwidge Danticat‘s new novel “Dèy” is a portrait of trauma. But at its heart, it’s also a tale of triumph.
It tells the story of a young woman in Florida as she navigates the aftermath of surviving a mall shooting, raises a 10-year-old daughter, struggles to keep her elderly parents and brother safe from gangs in Haiti, and grapples with her mother’s mental illness.
Yet, despite the overwhelming burdens, Danticat also weaves joy into protagonist Magnolia’s life through her precocious daughter, a loving partner who supports her despite their separation, and a large extended Haitian family that celebrates weekly at the matriarch’s home with traditional foods, holidays and rituals.
Though the novel’s title, “Dey,” means “mourning” in Haitian Creole, Danticat joins host Robin Young to describe how joy and mourning can coexist when there is also community.
Book excerpt: ‘Dey’
By Edwidge Danticat
Excerpted from “Dèy” by Edwidge Danticat. Published August 2026 by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2026 by Edwidge Danticat.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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