The Farming of Bones

Happy birthday to my sister!  This was an interesting book that wasn’t what I thought it would be, well not completely.  The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat was set in the 1930s in the Dominican Republic, yet our protagonist, Amabelle Desir, is an orphaned young woman who works as a servant for the local DR matron and her husband, who has an important role in the military.  We learn early on that Amabelle lost her parents who drowned in the river trying to cross.  The water motif plays a significant role throughout the story.  Amabelle escapes the area after a civil uprising occurs and all Haitians are to be killed by the military leadership.  She loses her lover and future husband, Sebastien, in a failed attempt to escape from the area.  Amabelle’s escape is an arduous process that leads her to successfully swim down a river, without being shot.  Eventually she and another servant from the area, Yves, do escape back home to Haiti.  After recovering she is drawn back to DR and attempts to find Sebastien and his sister.  This brings her back to a meeting with her past, her former employer and a very difficult conversation.  For me the circular story of the journey and re-visiting the journey has some strong appeal as a reader.  Amabelle was able to confront her past, but what she learned on the return wasn’t what she hoped to find.  Amabelle did get some level of peace in the final journey with the water which served as a deathbed for so many Haitians.  I’d say the book was ok, but missed some further development with the interweaving of the past relationship with Sebastien.  Another one of these books that you “have to be in the mood”… death and unhappiness, just not feeling it today, sorry.  Not in the top recommends, low level but strong sadness for Amabelle and all she had to endure.