Brother, I'm Dying is a memoir of native Haitian Edwidge Danticat. Danticat was born poor in the bustling city of Port-au-Prince, which gets its name from previous French occupation. Danticat's mother is a seamstress, while her father drives a taxi for city dwellers.
When Danticat was only four years old, her parents left her and her younger brother alone in Haiti and went to New York so that they could get more money for themselves. At this age, Danticat has no idea what is going on, and believes her parents will never see her again. The two are now cared for by their uncle and aunt-in-law.
Getting into the United States was hard for Danticat's parents - they had to obtain a work visa just to enter the country. Going to New York, they felt that they would have a better chance at making a living, as the economy of Haiti is very poor. Danticat was left uncertain, but it was indeed her parents' intention to come back and take her and her brother to the United States once enough money was saved up.
Meanwhile, living in Haiti with her uncle, Danticat gets accustomed to the traditional Haitian lifestyle, in which you never know where your next meal is coming from. Eight years after her parents left, now twelve, Danticat and her brother receive news that they are going to go the the U.S. Instead of picking up the two children, their parents simply "sent" for them.
Once the family meets back up, it is quite awkward, as they have not talked to one another for years. The children don't really know who their parents are, and they don't even know the area well.
In 2002, Danticat marries a man named Faidherbe Boyer, and they are deeply in love. By this time, Danticat knows her parents better, and is grief-stricken when she learns that her father has been diagnosed with a deadly illness. In her memoir, she explains that she is writing all of this down in memory of her father, who will soon pass away.
