Wednesday, August 5, 2020

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins



Many people say the sign of a truly good book is one that you never really forget. It stays with you for a long time. I am here to tell you that this one will stay with you for life. Here is a quote from the back cover. Ann Patchett couldn't be more right.

In this new, epic novel, a woman named Lydia and her son Luca must flee their home in Acapulco after a drug cartel slaughters the rest of her whole family as the two hide in a bathroom. They take only what they can carry and all the money they have and run. Lydia decides that if they remain in Mexico, they will surely be killed, so she and Luca try to figure out how to get to America, el norte. Lydia, amid her overwhelming grief and fear, decides to take the route of a migrant. This is a dangerous path filled with jumping on and off trains, walking for endless miles, fearing apprehension and jail, taking food and shelter in migrant camps, and finally using a coyote to cross the desert and the line to the U.S. where they hope to lose themselves forever.

This is a tale of grief and hardship but also undying love and devotion, not just between mother and son, but also between the myriad of characters who are also migrants fleeing for their own desperate reasons. In the midst of grief for their own family, Lydia and Luca still manage to find another kind of family to cling to. The writing and characters are so fluid and so real that they will stay with you, making you look at your own life, your country, and the politics that can hinder humanity. Make sure you pick up this book. You will have it forever in your mind and heart. Thank you, Jeanine Cummins.

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