Fiction Review: American Dirt

In August, I listened to American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins on audio. It's a novel about a mother and her son desperately crossing Mexico with their lives in danger. The story was gripping and suspenseful but also moving and powerful.

Lydia Pérez lives in Acapulco with her husband, Sebastian, and their eight-year-old son, Luca. Lydia runs a bookstore, which she loves, and Sebastian is a journalist. Luca is a quiet but precocious boy, with a special talent for geography. While working in the bookstore, Lydia meets Javier, a handsome, intelligent, and charismatic man who shares her love of reading. Her joy in their book discussions dissolves though when she finds out that he's the leader of the region's most violent drug cartel, the one that Sebastian has been writing about in an article. As the novel opens shortly after the article was published, Lydia and Luca are hiding, terrified, in the bathtub of Lydia's mother's house, as they listen to violent cartel members slaughter the rest of their family in the house and yard all around them in the midst of Lydia's niece's Quinceañera. In all, 16 members of their family are killed that day, and only Lydia and Luca escape. Certain that Javier won't stop until he has killed them, too, the mother and son go on the run, grabbing some cash and hopping on a bus, though somehow, Javier's men always seem to be on their trail. Lydia's only remaining family is an uncle in Colorado, and she knows they will never be safe within the borders of Mexico, where Javier's immense power spreads from sea to sea; even the police and immigration officials can't be trusted as some of them are being paid by the cartels. Since the cartel is looking for them, standard forms of transportation are not an option, so the two join the thousands of migrantes walking, riding on the tops of cargo trains, and hiding in shelters. They are doing things Lydia never could have imagined in her easy life in Acapulco, but she would do anything to keep her son safe.

Much of this novel reads like a thriller, an action-packed, compelling narrative of life on the run being chased by brutal killers. But it is also, of course, about the migrantes whose ranks Lydia and Luca join. They meet some of them briefly while staying in shelters or riding the trains and hear their stories, but several characters become a part of their own story, joining the mother and son and providing much-needed expertise, while Lydia in turn lends emotional support to the often very young migrants. It's a heart-rending, powerful set of stories, including a pair of teen sisters trying to escape gang rapists, and an orphaned boy with nowhere to go. I was completely immersed in this moving, engrossing story that gave me a new appreciation for what immigrants have to endure just to keep their families safe.

NOTE: This excellent novel has stirred up some controversy due to its author being seen as someone with white privilege. Cummins is Latina, though, with a Puerto Rican grandmother, and in her Author's Note, she talks about the five years of extensive research she did on both sides of the border in order to accurately represent the immigrants she was writing about. She explains that her goal was to help American readers feel more empathy toward immigrants from the south (some of the characters are from Central American countries, too), which to me seems like a very worthy goal, especially in this time of politic unrest, when a large portion of our population vilifies immigrants. Yes, of course, it would be even better if a Mexican-American author wrote this book, and I certainly agree that we need more diverse representation in the publishing world. In fact, I personally make an effort to read lots of diverse books, joining a Diverse Reading Challenge each year. But, this is the novel we have, and Cummins did a great job researching and writing it. I believe it's a good thing that she is using her privilege to bring attention to these important issues, and the popularity of the novel (it is an Oprah's Book Club choice) will help to carry its critical message to even more readers.

400 pages, Flatiron Books
Macmillan Audio

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the beginning of the novel, and/or download it from Audible.

You can purchase American Dirt from an independent bookstore, either locally or online, here:

You can also buy through indie bookstores using Bookshop.

Or you can order American Dirt from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.