A visceral and intense novel of revolutionary change in Haiti, The Colour of Dawn follows the fortunes of the Méracin family, in particular sisters Angelique and Joyeuse and their brother Fignolé, in a poorer part of Port-au-Prince. Set in the course of a single day, duty to the family and desire for a better life clash with a world of gunfire, racketeering and kidnapping, as the apocalyptic surroundings of the Haitian capital begin to take hold.
Yanick Lahens constructs an exquisitely poignant human story and testimony to life, capturing with remarkable economy the fate of both an otherwise ordinary family and a country where monstrosity wants to rule. Translated by Alison Layland.
"Powerful and unforgettable." - Kate Saunders, The Times.
Yanick Lahens lives in Haiti. A professor of literature, she dedicates much of her time to a foundation training young Haitians in sustainable development. Her first novel, Dans la maison du père (In the House of the Father), won the LiBeratur Preis at the Leipzig Book Fair in 2002. The Colour of Dawn was first published as La Couleur de l’aube (2008), which won the Prix du Livre RFO and the Prix littéraire Richelieu de la Francophonie in 2009, along with the 2008 Prix Millepages 2008.
Alison Layland won the Translators’ House Wales/Oxfam Cymru 2010 Translation Challenge with a translation of one of Lahens’ short stories.