Cece

A little gem of a book -- Zadie Smith
Unforgettable... A cool, clear-eyed narrator... Unsparing observation is characteristic of this brave novel - a book that marvels at people who feel entitled to their tears * New York Times *
An intricate, honest, and achingly beautiful rendering of Port-au-Prince from the point of view of a bright young woman archiving it all. With stunning prose, Prophète constructs a fully realized world with its terrors and its tenderest people. This is a gift of a book. -- Leila Mottley, author of 'Nightcrawling'
Piercing and memorable * LA Times, Best Books of 2025 *
Prophète's achievement is to make the real and the virtual sides of Célia's life equally vivid, and Aidan Rooney's terrific translation from the French conveys the heroine's profound despair and snarky resilience... opinionated, vulnerable, mordantly funny * Wall Street Journal, Best Books of 2025 *
Cécé blew me away. This is such a carefully observed novel. The eye is unflinching, the voice at times acerbic yet tempered with compassion and deep humanity. Once I'd read the first chapter I found it impossible to put down -- Jan Carson, author of 'The Raptures'
This arresting and lyrical chronicle amounts to an astonishing and deeply human story of resilience. It's unforgettable * Publishers Weekly, starred review *
A stark, unflinching novel...rich in observational detail... A bleak, clear-eyed vision of a woman, and society, in collapse * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *
Cécé grabs us by the throat from the start, tightens the grip with each chapter, relaxes later on, then grips us again at the end, leaving us speechless. -- Dany Laferrière, author of 'The Enigma of the Return'
Cécé feels like the arrival of a bold new talent, and its heroine's voice, amplified by Aidan Rooney's sparkling translation, is fresh and full of passionate energy as it rips open a whole new view of Haiti's tormented earth -- Madison Smartt Bell, author of 'All Souls' Rising'
There is something extraordinary within this novel. The women are remarkable. Light is passed on through them -- Michel Désautels * Radio-Canada *
Gripping * Telegraph *
Immersed in the atmosphere and people of a Haitian cité... A deeply human testament to female resiliency -- Sam L Spratford, author of 'The Millions'
Through her online presence, Cécé wields power . . . Prophète's book intersperses actual events into the plot and highlights calamitous real-life situations . . . poignant and powerful * Library Journal, starred review *
Emmelie Prophète renders the lives of others, particularly women, in tight prose and sharp narration * Le National *
This audacious novelist invests her heroine with glory as she narrates on the social networks the lives of women from the cité. Totally believable, an indelible voice * Le Point *
Lively and vibrant . . . brimming with visceral detail. * Words Without Borders *
A subtly thought-provoking novel of singular force . . . Prophète eschews easy answers, and Cécé stayed on my mind long after I closed the book. -- Victoria Mangan * Literary Review *
Extraordinary -- Nuala O’Connor