A Best Book of February from Vanity Fair, TIME Magazine, Book Riot, and Ebony

A Most Anticipated Book from Oprah Daily, New York Post, Foreign Policy, Arlington Magazine, Literary Hub, Publishers Weekly, Blavity, The Week, and Traci Thomas on SheReads

“A brilliant, absorbing book, a family story, a tale of power, exile, and calamity, a love letter to Benjamin’s mother that becomes a deep look into the darkness of Haitian history. And it’s also a no-holds-barred autobiography. I couldn’t stop reading.”
—Salman Rushdie, author of Knife

“A family epic…Talk to Me makes the case that understanding Haiti’s place in the New World might lead to a fuller accounting of the entire hemisphere’s history—including our own.”
—The Atlantic

"Unflinching...A poignant critique of America's impact on migrants and the enduring bonds of family."

—Oprah Daily

“Benjamin unearths the secrets of his family’s hidden past in hopes of better understanding his mother…Through intense research, Benjamin looks to understand the far-reaching consequences of the devastating political event.”
—TIME 

“[Benjamin’s] new book, Talk to Me, is even more personal, and if possible even braver [than his last].”
—Boston Globe

“Through deep research, Benjamin plumbs secrets—both familial and national.”
—Vanity Fair

“Intimate, harrowing, and complex...”
—BreneBrown.com

“A deeply personal meditation on the cost of unspoken histories…A profound exploration of the spaces between us and the courage it takes to bridge them.”
—Esther Perel

“An evocative, wise memoir of a multilayered search for roots.”
—Kirkus, starred review

“This brutal, spellbinding tale is at once a searing domestic drama and an illuminating glimpse at Haiti’s history. Readers will be rapt.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Benjamin is a vivid writer whose honesty spares no one…In Talk to Me, violence, whether in war, politics, crime or families, has a long afterlife that is dangerous to overlook.”

—BookPage, starred review

“Rare is the memoir that allows us a window into the deeply personal fallout of very public, world-historical moments in history. So it is with Benjamin’s Talk to Me.
—Literary Hub

“Incredibly moving…[A] beautiful, heartfelt work.”
—Book and Film Globe

"A revelation. As unflinching as it is tender, it is the story of a nation and an intimate portrayal of a family. This is a son's homage to a complex, brilliant woman and a letter of longing to a Haiti that might have been, and could still become."
—Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King, finalist for the Booker Prize

“A tour-de-force! I was gripped by every page of this meticulously researched and emotionally rich mother-son memoir. You will not be able to put it down!”
—Adrienne Brodeur, author of Little Monsters

“[Benjamin’s] training as a cultural anthropologist shines through in his extensive research, and he renders history in lush, expressive detail… Ultimately, Benjamin's book succeeds as both a political history of twentieth-century Haiti and a compelling family saga.”
—Booklist

“A brilliant exploration of the complexities of the parent-child relationship in Ayiti. Rich Benjamin masterfully defies his family's silence, uncovering truths long buried. A deeply moving, disciplined journey that refuses to accept what’s left unsaid.”
—SEJOE, writer and producer

“Rich Benjamin contains multitudes. The grandson of a president of Haiti, son of an Ivy League graduate, gifted with a brilliant mother. Now he's written an eloquent, Argos-eyed love letter.”
—Edmund White, author of The Humble Lover

“Blending memoir with history, the result is a deeply affecting exploration of family, survival, and the hidden costs of political turmoil.”
—Arlington Magazine