A Best Book of February from Vanity Fair , TIME Magazine, and Ebony A Most Anticipated Book from Oprah Daily, Foreign Policy, Arlington Magazine, Literary Hub, Publishers Weekly, 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 "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 "Through deep research, Benjamin plumbs secrets--both familial and national." --Vanity Fair "Unflinching.A poignant critique of America''s impact on migrants and the enduring bonds of family.

" --Oprah Daily "Blending memoir with history, the result is a deeply affecting exploration of family, survival, and the hidden costs of political turmoil." -- Arlington Magazine "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 , the story of his family''s unwilling exile from Haiti (his grandfather was briefly president in 1957), and how that unspoken trauma passed from generation to generation." -- Literary Hub " Talk to Me is a revelation. As unflinching as it is tender, it is the story of a nation and an intimate portrayal of a family. Rich Benjamin meticulously probes into Haiti''s vast history while sensitively revealing with the painful secrets that his mother and her sisters carried to America. 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 "Talk to Me is a tour-de-force! I was gripped by every page of this meticulously researched and emotionally rich mother-son memoir, which explores how one family is unmade and remade--again and again--by forces both external and internal.

Rich Benjamin is a supremely talented writer, able to convey complex subject matters--the political landscape of Haiti, the parental abandonment that shaped him, and his reckoning with sickle cell anemia, being gay, and numerous family secrets--in elegant and moving prose. You will not be able to put it down!" --Adrienne Brodeur, author of Little Monsters "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 " Talk to Me is 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 of Nou Chaje Ak Pwoblèm "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''s] training as a cultural anthropologist shines through in his extensive research, and he renders history in lush, expressive detail. The three main characters--grandfather, mother, and Benjamin himself--all try to reconcile their desire for a better world with a desire for their family''s safety. This struggle manifests differently for each of them, and the resulting tension binds the work together. Ultimately, Benjamin''s book succeeds as both a political history of twentieth-century Haiti and a compelling family saga." -- Booklist.