American Book Award Winner Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist A NPR , Boston Globe , New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, and Library Journal Best Book of the Year “Stunning.” —Margaret Atwood At the end of a long, sweltering day, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster—Richard, an expat and wealthy water-bottling executive with a secret daughter; the daughter, Anne, an architect who drafts affordable housing structures for a global NGO; a small-time drug trafficker, Leopold, who pines for a beautiful call girl; Sonia and her business partner, Dieudonné, who are followed by a man they believe is the vodou spirit of death; Didier, an emigrant musician who drives a taxi in Boston; Sara, a mother haunted by the ghosts of her children in an IDP camp; her husband, Olivier, an accountant forced to abandon the wife he loves; their son, Jonas, who haunts them both; and Ma Lou, the old woman selling produce in the market who remembers them all. Brilliantly crafted, fiercely imagined, and deeply haunting, What Storm, What Thunder is a singular, stunning record, a reckoning of the heartbreaking trauma of disaster, and—at the same time—an unforgettable testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit. An Amazon Best Book of October 2021: This is one of the best books I have read this year. The novel begins by introducing Ma Lou, a woman working in a market in Port-au-Prince when Haiti was hit by the devastating 2010 earthquake. From there, author Myriam J. A. Chancy introduces additional characters and story lines that somehow add to the story without splitting the reader’s attention. It’s a delicate balance and a testament to the sheer quality of writing that each new thread only builds tension, increases our caring, and moves the story forward. Although the characters are fictional, Chancy logged many hours talking to real survivors—her people are absolutely real and you will care about them immensely. It is rare that a novel is able to become the defining work about an historic event, but What Storm, What Thunder feels like one of those books. —Chris Schluep, Amazon Books Editor “A gorgeous, intimate voice. . . . A reminder of the extraordinary resilience, then as now, of the Haitian people.”— People Magazine “A heartbreaking tale of regret and resilience, and a fiery rebuke of racism, violence and greed.”— TIME “Written by a Haitian Canadian American author, this novel paints Haiti's 2010 earthquake and its aftermath through 10 points of view, from a wealthy water executive to an architect returning from Rwanda to deal with the earthquake's aftermath.”— The New York Times Book Review “Heartbreaking and haunting, this exploration of life in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after it's hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake is sure to stay with you.”— Ms. Magazine “Incredibly powerful.”— BuzzFeed “Fascinating. . . . intimately written in such a way that you feel it.”— NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour “One of the finest examples of someone writing from a place of deep love and deep grief simultaneously--the story itself is wondrous and very, very human.”— Omar El Akkad, CBC “A stunning commentary on racism, sexual violence, capitalism and the resilience required to rebuild a life.”— The Washington Post “Not since W. G. Sebald has somebody succeeded in evoking such a rich sense of the history of disaster. . . . She has unimpeachable credibility--and a clear purpose: People do persist, not merely suffer.”— NPR Books “Compelling. . . . Chancy offers her readers the rare opportunity to view the earthquake's aftermath from multiple angles, with every shadow of doubt, every glimmer of hope, illuminating the ever-expanding history of the catastrophe and its devastation.”— BOMB Magazine “Chancy promises to illuminate the lives of people who in America are often fleeting visions on 24-hour news channels, noticed only when disaster happens.”— The Chicago Tribune “Many of us are hungry for stories of survival and resilience in this precarious world where the for-grantedness of life is fractured. This book delivers.”— The San Francisco Chronicle “What Storm, What Thunder is a beautiful book. . . . Myriam's novel makes what was lost when the earth opened up so clear.”— Read More Podcast “A soaring, heartbreaking symphony.”— Library Journal , Starred Review “A beautiful, haunting chorus of voices. This is a heartbreaking book, a striking achievement.”— Zinzi Clemmons, author of W hat We Lose “A gorgeous and compulsively readable page-turner in the most haunting and stunning prose. If you love the works of Jesmyn Ward, Edwidge Danticat, and J. M. Coetzee, this is the book for you! Absolutely breathtaking!”— Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana “A must-read. . . . a singular story of strength, sorrow, heartbreak, and love.”— A