American Dirt (paperback release) by Jeanine Cummins

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins.

Published in paperback 18th February 2021. Originally published in hardback 21st January 2020. From Tinder Press.

From the cover of the book:

FEAR KEEPS THEM RUNNING. 

HOPE KEEPS THEM ALIVE.

Yesterday, Lydia had a bookshop.

Yesterday, Lydia was married to a journalist.

Yesterday, she was with everyone she loved most in the world.

Today, her eight-year-old son Luca is all she has left.

For him, she will carry a machete strapped to her leg. For him, she will leap onto the roof of a high speed train. For him, she will find the strength to keep running.
 

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American Dirt is a book that I was very eager to read last year, when it was published in hardback, and I absolutely consumed it! Since it is now coming out in paperback, I thought it might be a good time to share some of my thoughts with you again about this incredible tale of a mother's fight to give her son a future.

Lydia lives in Acapulco, Mexico, a dangerous city 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, or else... 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 eventually shares details of the article he has been working on 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? What will happen to their family if Sebastian publishes this article? After much discussion, Sebastian decides to go ahead as planned, convinced that La Lachuzza will actually be pleased by the attention given to his violent campaign for peace within Acapulco. But, unfortunately, the article leads to tragic consequences. 

When Lydia finds herself and Luca the only survivors at her niece's birthday party, after sixteen members of her family are gunned down, including her darling husband, she knows that their only hope for survival is to leave Acapulco...leave Mexico...and head to El Norte.

What follows is the account of Lydia and Luca's arduous quest to find safety and security in the North, encompassing the desperate stories of the people that touch their lives on the way, and many of the violent scenes described are difficult to read. It is a tale that lays bare the extremes of human nature - showing the heart-breaking cruelties inflicted by the powerful on the powerless, side by side with the selfless acts of the kindness of strangers. 

Although this book has been seen as controversial by some, even though it is a fictional tale, it is one that shines a light on the plight of the migrants who attempt the trip to El Norte. It will help you to understand that this faceless tide of humanity is actually made up of individuals, each with their own story, and it is desperation that drives them to make this dangerous journey. 

American Dirt is an all consuming, emotional roller-coaster of a novel, full of determination, love of family, coming to terms with loss, and the strength of the human spirit. It will keep you on the edge of your seat all the way through - and leave you with much to mull over.

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."

American Dirt is available to buy now in hardback, e-book and audio formats, and in paperback from 18th February 2021.

Thank you to Louise Swannell from Headline for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review. 

About the author:

Jeanine Cummins s the author of The Outside Boy, The Crooked Branch, the true crime work A Rip in Heaven, and American Dirt, all of which are published by Tinder Press. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.