Setting
Set in 1937, the story starts out in the rural town of Alegría, which consists of many sugarcane mills and plantations that require the cheap and plentiful labor the Haitians supply. There is a huge gap between the Haitian workers and the rich Dominicans who they work for. As Amabelle tries to escape the government's intentions to "cleanse the country" by removing Haitians from the Dominican Republic, she travels as far as the Massacre River that borders the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Sugar cane dominates the economy described in the novel; the title, The Farming of Bones, is explained in Chapter 10 when Amabelle refers to process of growing, burning, and cutting cane as "travay te pou zo", or "the farming of bones".
Prior to the tensions ramping up to a peak in 1937, there was a time in which the borderlands between Haiti and the Dominican Republic were a more peaceful place. Dominicans and Haitians had worked together, socialized together, and even inter-married before the conflict.[2] However, after the death of Ramon Caceres in 1911, a lot of political instability was brought to the forefront of the country, resulting in U.S. occupation for eight years. The occupation was received very negatively, inciting even more political instability and violence in the Dominican Republic.[3] When Rafael Trujillo took over the government in 1930, there was an intense poverty in the country and Trujillo worked to end the financial crisis at the cost of taking away many rights from the citizens, especially the Haitian migrant workers.[4]
Plot summary
Orphaned by the age of 8, young Haitian Amabelle works for Don Ignacio and his daughter, in hopes of marrying her lover, Sebastien Onius. After the accidental death of one of Sebastien's fellow cane workers, the Haitian's distrust of the Dominican government grows, and this distrust is warranted. With news of the Generalissimo's intentions to “cleanse the country,” Haitian workers attempt to return to their home country.
When complications separate Amabelle and Sebastien during their attempt to flee, Amabelle is desperate to find what has become of Sebastien. Accompanied by Sebastien's friend, Yves, Amabelle makes her journey with the help of fellow survivors she encounters along the way. While escaping, the group must divide for their own safety. Upon reaching the town of Dajabon, Amabelle is disappointed to find that Sebastien is not there. While in Dajabon, Dominicans beat and torture Amabelle, Yves, and a fellow Haitian, Tibon, after recognizing their inability to pronounce “perejil” correctly, one of the most prevalent ways that the Dominicans determine the segregation of Haitians. On the verge of death, two remaining members of their group rescue Amabelle and Yves and bring them to the river that they must cross. Unfortunately, only Amabelle and Yves survive the dangerous crossing, where they are met at the other side by nuns who nurse them back to health. During the recovery process, Amabelle learns of the other survivors’ story of “kout kouto,” what the Haitians call the massacre.
Once Amabelle and Yves have healed, Yves offers to take Amabelle to his home. Upon arrival of the city, Amabelle and Yves settle in his home and try to rebuild their lives. While Yves finds solace in working in his father's fields and becomes a successful landowner, Amabelle continues her search for Sebastien. After finding Sebastien's mother and learning of the truth about Sebastien's fate, Amabelle returns to her life with Yves. Although Yves and Amabelle try to find comfort in one another, they are unable to fulfill each other's needs. Twenty years after her escape from Alegría, Amabelle decides to search for a connection to Sebastien by reliving old memories in places of the past. Despite reuniting with Señora Valencia, Amabelle is dissatisfied with the results of her search. In the final scene of the novel, Amabelle enters and rests in the Massacre River, winnowing through a handful of memories. Although distressed by loss, Amabelle finds the spiritual resilience to search for a new beginning.
