Violated
A story By Guitèle Jeudy, reviewed by Hyppolite Pierre
This is as nonpolitical a Haitian book as one can be. Yet, it penetrates the social structure of the 1960's and 1970's Haiti in a way that few authors, Haitians or foreign, have. In fact, anyone familiar or not familiar with Haiti, will truly enjoy the book.
Some call it a novel. Others, just a powerful tale of sexual exploitation of a little girl by an adult male. It is a kind of story that is taboo in our Haitian culture. The kind of story that is filled with shame for the victim, but yet so entrenched in her reality that it becomes an obsession.
The book exposes in more than one way, some of the social strictures and structures of Haiti's society. In one part, you sense the reality of the poor living in miserable conditions, but still striving for better life. In another part, you find the self-made entrepreneur whose mistress plays a negative role in his life and business, just because she knows she can. After all, she is from a higher "class", and more.
VIOLATED is a short story told with life, and engages the reader in such a way that most who have read it, find their eyes glued to the book, until they've finished reading it. This scene or chapter compels you to go to the next line, or paragraph, or chapter. You will want to read it to the end, through the end.
The book is an easy read, and essential for those who care to know that not only in developed societies will you find sexual perverts, but also in poor ones like ours, Haiti. Except that in our society, it is still taboo for the victim to expose the predator.
VIOLATED is a wonderful read, a joyful (although painful at times) read that paints through description not only an older Port-au-Prince, but also other places in the country. More importantly, it shows the courage of poor women trying to find a better life for their children in a world of hell. It also depicts a father who tries to drown his pain and powerlessness through alcohol. It shows the power of money in a most direct way. I urge you to read it.
The book can be purchased through the 1st Books website. The address is http://www.1stbooks.com.
Here are some other comments on the book by individuals, and also Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble.com
Advance magazine comments on the book:
Young beautiful Kasha experiences terrifying voodoo rituals combined with vague Christian mandates. At the same time, she is shifted constantly from her grandmother to her mother's home where she tries unsuccessfully to dodge the smothering Antoine, a pedophile – and her mother's lover.
Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com propose the following comments:
VIOLATED depicts the tale of an eight year old girl uprooted from her native Haiti in the late 1960's and how the American dream proved to be a nightmare for her. In VIOLATED, the protagonist, Kasha struggles to negotiate a web of secret incestuous advances from her mother's pedophile lover.
Guitèle Rahill writes books in a manner that strikes to the core of one's being. In Violated, she has struck a nerve, though hard to endure, resonates within the soul of all who are familiar with such life experiences.
VIOLATED is a story about the painful realities of abuse in personal relationships that are normally kept hidden in the closet. Rahill's bold and poetic style brings a reader into the story with a personal closeness, yet assaults them simultaneously with the painful truths exposed in the book. — L. DUBOIS.
Behind the vacant and haunted eyes of poverty, Guitèle Rahill offers a riveting journey into the private souls of three generations of amazingly complex Haitian women. As our personal guide, she offers us a rare and private viewing into the depths of hardship, pain and resolve. These Haitian women offer a true picture of resilience! — R. LAPIN, M.ED., LMFT.
