Breath, Eyes, Memory

Breath, Eyes, Memory

By:Edwidge Danticot


             The book is about a young girl, Sophie Caco that was sent from her Croix-des-Rosets (Haiti) to New York At the age of twelve, where she returned to the mother in which she barely recognizes. There she discovers secrets that no child should ever know and shame that can only be healed when she returns to Haiti.

             Sophie arrives in Haiti with her daughter after many years of not being there. Sophie finally arrives to grandma’s house after walking and talking with Atie. Grandma’s eyes begin to tear as she saw Sophie because she was happy to see her “long-lost granddaughter.” Sophie begins to miss Joseph, her husband, and remembers when he used to play the saxophone to her belly while she was pregnant. Meanwhile Atie’s behavior was upsetting grandma and she did not appreciate her behavior. Grandma and Sophie went down to the markets and on their way back Grandma spit in the dirt in front of Louise to show that she did not approve the influence she has on Atie.

            As Grandma Ife and Sophie eat dinner grandma notices a light/lantern moving in the yard. The light came from a midwife that was walking back and forth to the boiling water and then back to the mother giving birth. Later into the book, Sophie asked Grandma why she has tested her daughters, and her response was that it was her responsibility to make sure her daughters stayed pure. “Do you understand now why your mother was so adamantly against your being with a man, a much older man at that? It is only natural, dear heart. She also felt that you were the only person who would never leave her.” (210, Danticot) This quote explains how Sophie’s life surrounds her mother’s life and how it affects her mother because she did not want Sophie to marry or be with a much older man. Also knowing that Sophie had many insecurities.