In a country plagued by dictatorship and insurrection, poverty and corruption, where police officers and gang members become hard to distinguish, art provides a sense of meaning and respite. As people from all walks of life protest their tyrannical leader, a painter tries to reconcile the brutal violence he sees with the beauty of his lover. A wealthy industrialist's kidnapping ties back to his past with a humble laundress from the seaside. A lovesick servant girl turns to magic to win her master's heart. Having escaped the shantytowns he grew up in, a wannabe James Bond feels their pull again when he gets involved with an alluring young woman-and her pimp. Written with the masterful language of a poet, and filled with characters at once lifelike and mythical, Lyonel Trouillot's story collection creates a multifaceted portrait of modern Haiti.