Read January 2020.
Lydia lives in Acapulco, Mexico, a dangerous city these days - since the rise of the cartels - but nevertheless, the city that is both her home and that of her beloved family, and they do their best to live normal lives. She runs a small bookstore, and lives in an apartment with her journalist husband, Sebastian and her eight-year-old son, Luca. Her family are her world.
Sebastian's job has brought him to the attention of the cartels, and he has been warned to stop writing stories about them, but he is compelled to report the truth about the violence wrought as part of the power struggles between the gangs in his home city - especially about the cartel on the rise, Los Jardineros (The Gardeners), and its new jefe, La Lechuzza (The Owl). His latest article focuses heavily on the new jefe and what he seems to be trying to achieve with his campaign of violence. While the article is heavily critical of the bloody crusade underway, Sebastian does recognise that some sort of peace may be reached if this take-over succeeds.
When Sebastian shares his article with Lydia, she is appalled to discover that La Lechuzza is actually a man she knows well - or thought she did - but she cannot relate the softly spoken, poet Javier, with the man her husband describes in his report. Can this be true? Is it safe for Sebastian to pursue his attack on Los Jardineros? Will their family be in greater danger? After much discussion, Sebastian decides to go ahead and publish his article and feels La Lachuzza will in fact, be pleased by the attention given to his violent campaign for peace within Acapulco.
But the article leads to tragic consequences. When Lydia finds herself and Luca the only survivors of her niece's birthday party, after sixteen members of her family are gunned down, including her darling husband, she knows that their only hope of survival is to leave Acapulco...leave Mexico...and head to El Norte.
The journey will be long and arduous, and she is not even sure how to begin, but to stay would mean certain death. She will risk everything...give everything...to save her son. Lydia will find whatever strength she needs to keep running from the man they call La Lachuzza.
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Wow, what a book! American Dirt has been in my eager little hands for some months now, and I actually started reading it way back in September. But I knew, as soon as I started, that this was going to be something very special and there was no way I would be able to hold onto my reaction to it until January 2020. So I made myself put the book away, to pick up in January, near publication date.
It is almost impossible to do this book the full justice it deserves with my words, but I will try.
Before I start, I want to make it clear that I acknowledge this book is controversial - there has been a fair bit of backlash from minority authors about the stereotypical nature of the characters, the fact that the author is "white" etc.
But, it is possible to be aware of this and still enjoy a book on its own merits. The views expressed here are my own and having enjoyed reading it does not make me "rascist", thank you very much!
In my view, any book that shines a light on an issue is worthy, as it leads to debate, and makes people ask questions and read more about a subject.
If you are in any doubt, always read and make up your own mind. The important thing is simply to READ!
Before I start, I want to make it clear that I acknowledge this book is controversial - there has been a fair bit of backlash from minority authors about the stereotypical nature of the characters, the fact that the author is "white" etc.
But, it is possible to be aware of this and still enjoy a book on its own merits. The views expressed here are my own and having enjoyed reading it does not make me "rascist", thank you very much!
In my view, any book that shines a light on an issue is worthy, as it leads to debate, and makes people ask questions and read more about a subject.
If you are in any doubt, always read and make up your own mind. The important thing is simply to READ!
This book is an incredible tale of a mother's fight to give her son a future. It is the story of Lydia and Luca's journey north, to a place where they hope they can find safety, and of the people they meet along the way. It is a story of determination, love, family, and the strength of the human spirit. It is a story that will take us to the extremes of human nature - showing the heartbreaking cruelties that can be inflicted by the powerful on the powerless, and also the selfless face of the kindness of strangers. This is a beautifully written novel, that will work its way into your heart and soul, and stay there for ever.
But is it also so much more...
This is one of the very few books I have read about the tide of migrants in America - in fact, the first one I have read since Valeria Luiselli's mesmerising book Lost Children Archive, - and while it focuses on the journey of Lydia and Luca, it covers a lot of ground (if you will pardon the pun!).
Living in UK, I am more familiar with the the impact of the refugee situation in Europe - both in the news and in the books I have read. So it was both fascinating and harrowing to read more about the world of the migrants from Central and North America, who risk their lives by riding La Bestia, and enduring the terrible dangers of the route they must take, in order to give themselves and their families not only a better life away from the cartels, but sometimes just the chance to survive at all. A world where the dangers of the journeys these migrants take are ones which they are willing to risk in order to escape the hopelessness of living lives scarred by a different sort of war.
This is a tale that will make you take a good long look at the human beings who make this journey - make you understand they are individuals, not a faceless mass of criminals intent on taking away the privileges that others are lucky enough to enjoy. Although there is likely to be an undesirable element, the vast majority of these migrants are people, just like us, who want the chance of a decent life without the constant fear of violence.
What would you do, if you lived in the world these migrants must endure? What would it take for you to follow a similar path? I hope I never need to find out if I have the strength these people do.
American Dirt is an all consuming, emotional roller-coaster of a novel. Your heart will be in your mouth for the entire time and, trust me, you will sob at more than one point. I actually cannot think of enough superlatives to describe this book, so I am not even going to try. This is a book that is completely deserving of all the praise it has earned; one that is an important book of our time; and one that is sure to be on many of the book prize lists in 2020.
I will simply finish by saying you must read this book and quoting the graffiti that adorns the border wall in Tijuana, which cut straight to my heart:
"También de este lado hay sueños."
"On this side, too, there are dreams."
Thank you for Louise Swannell and Tinder Press for providing me with a copy of American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins in return for an honest review.
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