For you, I will live on love

Original title: Je vivrai d’amour pour toi

Author: Wêche, Evains

Publication Date:

February 2022

Pages:

224

Original language and publisher

French | Editions Philippe Rey

Territories Handled

Netherlands, North America, Scandinavia

Genre

Memoir

For you, I will live on love

Original title: Je vivrai d’amour pour toi

Author: Wêche, Evains

Synopsis

A moving love song about a mother’s death and a journey into the secrets of a warring Haitian family.

When Evains Wêche, a young doctor in Port-au-Prince, receives the terrible news that his mother, Man Laveau, has died, it is a huge surprise. She never smoked nor drank a day in her life but somehow died from lung cancer. Laveau was deeply loved by many, and her entire neighborhood grieves her loss. Her family is unable to accept it and her maternal line accuses her paternal line of murder. Suddenly, they point the finger at one of Evains’ cousins. Tongues loosen and long-since buried childhood stories resurface.

Evains Wêche tells the story of an astonishing quest for truth, all the while paying homage to his mother, the ‘great lady of small favors,’ who continually made the world a better place in subtle ways. He wonders if he will manage to bring the two sides of his family back together as she once did…

This beautiful narrative reads like a moving love song and recounts the ten days between his mother’s death and her burial. The reader walks into the daily lives of ordinary people – the aunts, the maid, the father, Lavau’s only love – meets them and grows attached to them and to their sincerity.

This short book not only puts into question the Haitian superstition that can have catastrophic effects on families, but it also makes us think about how we part with our loved ones. What does dying mean when the deceased still lives among us? How can one bury one’s source of inspiration?