Cécé

Haitian diplomat and novelist Prophète (Blue) delivers a winning narrative of an enterprising woman seeking to maintain her independence in her poverty-stricken neighborhood on the edge of Port-au-Prince. In the gang-ruled Cité of Divine Power, the sight of a beheaded, burned, and bullet-ridden corpse is routine, and residents know to stay inside at the sound of gunfire. Cécé, the narrator, was raised by her grandmother after her mother died from complications related to drug use and AIDS. After her grandmother dies, Cécé becomes a sex worker, cares for her alcoholic uncle, and shrewdly manages her relationships with a succession of neighbors and gangsters. She acquires a cell phone and amasses a large social media following with her grisly photos of mutilated bodies and life in the neighborhood. Cécé is irresistible as the Boswell of the Cité and its residents: “The unhinged (all too plentiful), the drunks, the junkies, people crippled by the last earthquake, the blind, the departed, the grieving.” Yet amid the district’s desperation, she reflects on how she “couldn’t help thinking about the generosity that resisted the incredible violence, poverty and indifference.” Her arresting and lyrical chronicle amounts to an astonishing and deeply human story of resilience. It’s unforgettable. (Sept.)