One Maryland One Book

2024 Selection: What Storm, What Thunder

The One Maryland One Book selection for 2024 is What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J.A. Chancy.

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.

Visit the Maryland Humanities website for more information, including frequently asked questions. One Maryland One Book is a program of the Maryland Center for the Book at Maryland Humanities.

How To Participate

All Marylanders can participate in One Maryland One Book!

Get involved by checking out a copy of What Storm, What Thunder from the Pratt Library as a book or ebook.

Each year, more than 10,000 Marylanders read the One Maryland One Book. How many of those people are your friends or family members? How many are perfect strangers you sit next to on the train or stand in line with at the grocery store? Use the book to jump-start a meaningful conversation with an old friend or make a new one.

Check back this fall for Pratt Library's One Maryland One Book community events including book discussions, themed events, and more.

Get involved and join us with these Pratt Library One Maryland One Book events.

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