My Mother’s House
My Mother’s House by Francesca Momplaisir, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2020, is a literary thriller that explores the complexities of the immigrant American dream through a unique narrative lens. This edition, comprising 283 pages, presents a story centered around Lucien, who flees Haiti with his family to seek a better life in New York City’s South Ozone Park. As they settle into a rundown house, La Kay, the family hopes for reinvention and comfort, but the house itself becomes a silent witness to the unfolding drama and emotional turmoil.
Readers will find a gripping exploration of the immigrant experience, as Lucien grapples with his past and present in a community undergoing significant change. The narrative delves into themes of cultural heritage and the darker aspects of city life, revealing how one person’s struggles can ripple through the lives of others. As La Kay bears witness to Lucien’s descent into his worst habits, the story unfolds with an air of magical realism, ultimately leading to a dramatic confrontation with the sins that the house has endured.
Official synopsis Publisher
For fans of Kate Atkinson, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Edwidge Danticat, Tana French, Mohsin Hamid, Hari Kunzru, Imbolo Mbue, Alex Michaelides, and Jesmyn Ward
A literary thriller about the complex underbelly of the immigrant American dream and the dangerous ripple effect one person’s damages can have on the lives of others–told unexpectedly by a house that has held unspeakable horrors
When Lucien flees Haiti with his wife, Marie-Ange, and their three children to New York City’s South Ozone Park, he does so hoping for reinvention, wealth, and comfort. He buys a rundown house in a community that is quickly changing from an Italian enclave of mobsters to a haven for Haitian immigrants, and begins life anew. Lucien and Marie-Ange call their home La Kay–“my mother’s house”–and it becomes a place where their fellow immigrants can find peace, a good meal, and legal help. But as a severely emotionally damaged man emigrating from a country whose evils he knows to one whose evils he doesn’t, Lucien soon falls into his worst habits and impulses, with La Kay as the backdrop for his lasciviousness. What he can’t even begin to fathom is that the house is watching, passing judgment, and deciding to put an end to all the sins it has been made to hold. But only after it has set itself aflame will frightened whispers reveal Lucien’s ultimate evil.
At once an uncompromising look at the immigrant experience and an electrifying page-turner, My Mother’s House is a singular, unforgettable achievement.
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