“EVERYTHING INSIDE IS WORTH DYING FOR,” reads a scratched sticker in Edwidge Danticat’s “Dosas,” the first short story in her short story collection Everything Inside: Stories, a statement that not only defines this piece, but the collection as a whole (Danticat 33). In eight stories centering around citizens of Haiti and Haitian immigrants living in America, Danticat weaves together stories of love, loss, family, and overall, how people learn to keep moving on.

Danticat excels in creating stories filled with twists, turns, and most of all, heart. The collection begins with “Dosas,” in which Elsie, a Haitian immigrant now living in Miami, receives a call from her ex-husband that his girlfriend, Oliva, has been kidnapped (Danticat 1).  Exploring themes of infidelity, betrayal, and newfound love, “Dosas,” does it all. The tension continues with “In the Old Days,” where a young woman named Nadia seeks out her dying father whom she has never met and learns more about his life, and herself, than she may have bargained for (Danticat 41). Danticat creates twisting tales that descend gently into bittersweet endings, keeping readers reaching for the next page.

One of Danticat’s many talents is making any character, even the most deplorable, be believable and relatable. Anika, in “The Gift,” is torn between reaching for her lover Thomas after the loss of his wife and child and her guilt over wanting him after their deaths (Danticat 94). Another conflicting character is Babette in “The Port-au-Prince Marriage Special,” who constantly berates her daughter Mélisande for her fatal AIDS diagnoses, fearing her death (Danticat 65). Despite these characters being dislikeable, the reader is still able to empathize with them due to Danticat’s personable writing and realistic dialogue.

Danticat’s stories are filled with loss and fear but are ultimately about love. “Sunrise, Sunset” begins with a plot centering on the effects of postpartum depression and memory loss and transforms into a nail-biting climax over the fate of a child’s life (Danticat 131). The last story of the collection, “Without Inspection,” follows a man plunging to his death from a skyscraper, reliving his past during the fall. (Danticat 201). Though these stories deal with the fear of death, they end with the notion that love makes it all worth it. They teach that no matter how hard it gets, life keeps moving and people along with it.

Danticat’s characters bewitch readers with their struggles and triumphs. While each story takes its own path, they all end with a bittersweet warmth that refuses to fade. Everything Inside: Stories will linger, from Miami to Haiti, from skyscraper restaurants to frothing seas, from the page into the world.

The title of this collection does not lie. Everything inside is worth dying for.