Research Resources

Introduction

The Dew Breaker  is the third novel by Edwidge Danticat, a collection of related stories around a shadowy central character who is a Haitian immigrant to the U.S. He reveals to his artist daughter that he is not, as she believes, a prison escapee, but a former prison guard, who is trained in torture and other violent methods of control. (A "dew breaker" is a government official who comes in the early morning to arrest someone or carry out other orders, breaking the dew on the grass as he walks.) Stories include the prison guard's victims, their families, people who recognize him years later in New York, and people still convinced he's pursuing them.

Maps & Timelines

Haitian Maps. Perry-Castaņeda Library Map Collection. University of Texas at Austin.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/haiti.html
Timelines Haitian History

Timeline Country Profiles. BBC News.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1202857.stm

Keydates in Haitian History
http://www.haiti.org/keydate.htm
History to 1996.