How to Escape from a Leper Colony: A Novella and Stories

by Tiphanie Yanique Narrated by Robin Miles, Dion Graham, Andrew Garman

Overview

Like Gabriel GarcIa MArquez, Edwidge Danticat, and Maryse CondE before her, Tiphanie Yanique has crafted a debut collection that is heartbreaking, hilarious, and mesmerizing. Set mostly in the U.S. Virgin Islands, these lyrical and haunting stories are part oral history, part postcolonial narrative-but ultimately a loving portrait of a wholly unique place. ". magical and mystical tales ."-Booklist

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

The effects of colonialism throb in Yanique’s vivid debut collection. The chilling title story is set in 1939, when the Trinidadian island of Chacachacare was still used as a leper colony; the narrator, a 14-year-old orphan with leprosy, befriends a curious boy her age, Lazaro, whose mother was murdered there when he was a baby, and whose troubled relationship with the nuns leads him to a terrible retribution. “The Bridge Stories” are elucidating snapshots of islanders struggling to carve out lives for themselves on St. Thomas and elsewhere amid an exploitative tourist economy. Yanique frequently dips into rich, fanciful vernacular, such as in “Street Man,” a beautiful, sad glimpse at a doomed love affair between a college student and a St. Croix local. In the affecting novella, “International Shop of Coffins,” Yanique depicts characters of mixed African/Creole/Indian descent torn between the white and island worlds in all their complexity and conflictedness. A smattering of dark humor leavens the tense narratives as Yanique penetrates the perils and pleasures of lives lived outside resort walls. (Mar.)

Library Journal

Anyone who has ever been an outcast will recognize himself or herself in these short stories by Yanique (creative writing & Caribbean literature, Drew Univ.), which center mostly on the island of St. Thomas. The heartache of each character is vivid, but what is a real triumph here is the simple, eloquent prose, which doesn't work too hard to achieve its purpose. While the title story is the best, others are still excellent, and they all describe people who are struggling between two worlds—not just the case of being marginalized by race, culture, or religion but the simple feeling of always being an outsider. Yanique portrays this position well, over and over, throughout the book. VERDICT A beautiful and insightful read, this will be of interest not only to academic libraries but also to all drawn to the best contemporary American and Caribbean fiction.—Shalini Miskelly, Highline Community Coll. Lib., Des Moines, WA

From the Publisher

With turns to the wild, clever, and magical that seem at once fantastic and inevitable, Tiphanie Yanique has crafted a beautiful collection of short and not-so-short fiction. This is an exciting new voice.” —PERCIVAL EVERETT

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171166984
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	06/24/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

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