In addition to the struggle for identity of cross-cultural adoptees, the book explores themes of class, color and religion in Haiti.
[2] McArthur prize winner Edwidge Danticat described the book to The New York Times as "a gorgeous new novel about a Haitian adoptee finding her way in many different corners of the world.
Her parents—who are from Lascahobas and Cabaret, Haiti—migrated to the United States to flee the François Duvalier dictatorship, leaving her and siblings with relatives in Haiti.
She has been a Fulbright Fellow in France and Senegal and choreographed the production Elima Ngando for the National Dance Theater of Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo.
[2] Augustave says her Fulbright fellowship in France and Senegal informed her ability to describe her character Iris' cultural experiences.