The Garden of Broken Things

A novel about one family wading through the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010, from the acclaimed author who has been compared to Toni Morrison at the height of her power (Harpers Bazaar)a haunting and astonishing story of restoration and disaster, motherhood, and the bonds that carry through generations.

Genevieve, a single mother, flies from New York to Port-au-Prince with her teenage son, Miles. The trip is meant to be an education for fifteen-year-old Milesa chance to learn about his familys roots while coming to terms with his fathers departurebut its also an excuse for Genevieve to escape the city, where her life is dominated by her failed marriage and the daily pressures of raising Black children in America. For Genevieve, the journey is also a homecoming of sorts: An opportunity to visit the island she remembers from childhood and reconnect with family. But when the country is rocked by a massive earthquakedecimating the city and putting their lives at risktheir visit becomes a nightmare of survival.

Written before the horrific earthquake that struck Haiti in 2021,The Garden of Broken Thingsdelivers readers beyond the headlines and into the shattered world of a distant familycoming together, forced apartsuddenly brought to the brink.

FRANCESCA MOMPLAISIR is the author ofMy Mothers House.Born in Haiti,she studied at Columbia University, the University of Oxford, and New York University. She earned a doctorate in African and African diaspora literature as an NYU MacCracken fellow under her supervisor and mentor, Ngugi wa Thiongo. She is a recipient of a Fulbright fellowship to travel to Ghana to research the cultural retention and memory of the transatlantic slave trade. She lives in the New York City metro area.

• Publisher:Knopf (May 10, 2022)
• Language:English
• Hardcover:320 pages
• ISBN-10:0593321065
• ISBN-13:9780593321065
• Grade level:4-6
• Item Weight:1.04 pounds
• Dimensions:5.78 x 1.12 x 8.52 inches