2 Books Like Hill of Secrets

The contrast between the serene, almost stately structure of its sentences and paragraphs and its short chapters kept me engaged, and both undercut and bolstered the sentiment and complexity of its subject matter.

Has Ben Fountain lived in Haiti? I don’t know, but I was utterly convinced by every detail of this novel set in the aftermath of the coup that deposed Haitian President Aristide. Fountain is great at limning the gray areas such as the compromises his Haitian characters – including the most idealistic - must make to survive. His American characters include a young man with a plan (that had not seemed insane at the outset), to start a scuba business on the Haitian coast, Embassy and CIA officers most of whom are both cynical and ignorant as they try to put in power someone who’ll be aligned with the US and not too much of a violent criminal. One CIA officer held my attention most. Of all the Americans, she cares the most about Haiti and its people, goes deeply into the culture, respects and even loves the Haitians she… show more.