Krik? Krak!

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew

Of all the writers I met this year, none was as captivating as Edwidge Danticat, the author of Krik? Krak! (Vintage), which was a National Book Award finalist in 1995 (OK, so I'm a little behind). Danticat, who was born in Haiti in 1969, puts together nine beautiful little stories in this book. The most haunting one is the first, "Children of the Sea," a Haitian version of Romeo and Juliet.

The story starts in first person, with the Romeo figure at sea in a refugee boat, writing letters to his lover--letters she will never receive. It alternates with the Juliet figure writing back, as she fills in the details about the political repression, including one unforgettable scene where soldiers beat a neighbor to death while her own father stands by. Her mother tells her father, "you cannot let them kill somebody just because you are afraid. papa says, oh yes, you can let them kill somebody because you are afraid. they are the law. it is their right." (For some reason, Danticat does not...