Claire felt her leaving then, a cold breeze, and the lonely, motherless pull of Minna wanting her to come with her in exile that fiery night. Adieu. But Claire was already home. Home made out of the walls of connection, not boards or plaster, or even rows of orange trees. A home now stronger because it was built on forgiveness, with the full knowledge that it hung over an abyss that could reopen any day. Wherever Minna was in the world, Claire would remain at that exact spot on the earth, her land, diminished but real, a lighthouse to signal her in. Claire burned a candle in the window, Raisi’s flame, reignited to light the way for yet another daughter finding her way. Minna only had to see it and be returned. Come. This is the only place. The beginning and the end. Home.
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to many excellent books in my research. One of the seminal books that made me want to become a writer and provided the inspiration for this book was Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. For the biographical facts of her life, I referred to Jean Rhys by Helen Carr and Jean Rhys: Life and Work by Carole Angier. For my understanding of citrus farming: A Citrus Legacy by John H. Hall; Oranges by John McPhee; Pay Dirt by J. I. Rodale; and Orange Empire by Douglas Cazaux Sackman. Books that were important in my understanding of Haiti: both the fiction and nonfiction of Edwidge Danticat, most especially Create Dangerously, The Butterfly’s Way, Krik? Krak! The Dew Breaker, and The Farming of Bones; Bob Shacochis’s Swimming in the Volcano and The Immaculate Invasion; Amy Wilentz’s The Rainy Season; and Tell My Horse by Zora Neale Hurston, especially for the lyrics to “Maitresse Ersulie.” Also instrumental to my understanding of Haiti were the documentaries Aristide and the Endless Revolution by Nicolas Rossier; The Agronomist by Jonathan Demme; and Ghosts of Cité Soleil by Asger Leth. The excerpt from “I Love You Truly” was written by Carrie Jabobs Bond. I would like to thank Katie Shull, John Northrop, and Gina Vela for answering endless questions. I would also like to give a special thanks to Rabih Nassif for his patient listening through numerous drafts. Sandrine Belanger for being my North Star. For the artwork, I’m indebted to my husband, Gaylord Soli. I would like to thank Hilary Rubin Teeman and Dori Weintraub for making me feel well cared for. Lastly, thanks to Nat Sobel for being in my corner.
About the Author
TATJANA SOLI lives with her husband in Southern California. Her New York Times bestselling debut novel, The Lotus Eaters, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a New York Times Notable Book, and won the 2011 James Tait Black Prize.