BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS

Author Edwidge Danticat narrates the introduction and afterword of her novel, providing context by relating her own immigrant experience and feelings about her heroine. Taking over to narrate the story, Ella Turenne uses a youthful voice and light French accent to portray Celiane, a Haitian girl. The violence taking place in her country takes center stage when she and her mother are almost killed in a bombing while visiting an aunt in Port-au-Prince. Turenne contrasts the comfort Celiane feels in her rural home and school with her longing to be reunited with her father in Brooklyn. Turenne also expresses the worsening anxiety of Celiane's mother and the love of the aunt who helps the family reunite. In New York, Celiane is surprised by the cold weather, school issues, and the tensions in her family. S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2022]