Earthquakes, politics, suffering, and romance. In his debut novel, Dimitry Elias Léger revisits Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in January of 2010, when it was devastated by a massive earthquake. God Loves Haiti focuses on the lives of Natasha Robert, a young artist who has married the current president of Haiti, and her lover Alain Destiné, an up-and-coming leader in the developing nation.
At the time the earthquake hits, Natasha and her husband are about to board a plane for Italy, where they plan to retire (escape) from the responsibilities of the struggling nation. After a final night of illicit romance with her lover Alain, in the nation palace no less, Natasha locks him in a closet. He manages to escape, and decides to go to the airport to find Natasha. All their plans are shattered when the world comes tumbling down around them. Each assumes the other is dead. They go on living with a new resolve. The president, too, has a new resolve to serve his country, as he appeals to world leaders for assistance and attempts to inspire his countrymen. Each of the three is forced to reconsider his or her motives and purpose in life.
Léger jumps back in time, telling the back story of the love triangle, painting a picture of life and culture in Haiti while doing so. With the historical fact of the earthquake at the center of the story, I wondered how closely the details of the story followed reality. The fleeing president, the 13th floor of the U.N., where only heads of state can enter, the camps in the parks, cemeteries, and soccer fields, the American movie star who takes up residence in a tent in a Port-au-Prince park, the quick resurgence of commerce, the wedding in the rubble of the cathedral, all combined for a very convincing, intriguing view of life in Haiti and determination of Haitians to rebuild and renew.
The title hints at the theological struggles that Haitians must have had in the wake of the earthquake. The old priest tells Natasha, "The earthquake was the latest sign that God loves Haiti. . . . The way we Haitians suffer misfortune, deprivation, and disproportionate foreign enmity is right in line with the fate of chosen peoples throughout history. Biblically speaking, anyway." Alain has a more cynical response: "'F---ing God,' Alain thought. 'There was no God. There never was. There were tectonic plates deep beneath the sea. That's for sure.' . . . His new religion was no religion. His new God was no God. . . . There was death and there was life filled with micro moments to fill before death."
There are certainly no easy answers to a natural disaster like the Haitian earthquake. By focusing on these three individuals' responses to the earthquake, Léger sheds some light on the human condition beyond this Carribean island. His writing is lucid and tight, a nice balance of story, background, and reflection. (Although his non-use of quotation marks drove me a little crazy.) God Loves Haiti is a strong debut novel that portrays a side of the earthquake that wasn't shown on CNN and draws the reader into the mindset of a devastated Haiti.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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