American Dirt

Last night I went to a meeting of my book club to discuss our latest selection, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. It is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read in a long time and we had a very stimulating discussion about it. Lydia Quixano Perez is a middle class woman living in Acapulco with her husband Sebastian and their eight year old son Luca. She owns a bookshop and Sebastian is a journalist who writes about narcotrafficking. When he writes a critical piece about the leader of a drug cartel, he and fourteen members of Lydia's extended family are gunned down while the family is celebrating a quinceanera. She and her son are the only ones to survive but, because she knows the cartel will come looking for her, she makes the decision to flee Mexico and become one of the many migrants who try to come to the United States illegally because she feels she has no choice. She and Luca are forced to travel by La Bestia, a network of freight trains that run the length of Mexico north to the United States, which they board while the train is in motion. They face many other unspeakable dangers while riding the train before they give all of their savings to a coyote to take them across the border. This novel was deeply upsetting to me because I could feel Lydia's terror and desperation every step of the way. Intellectually I knew that it was dangerous to cross the border but I had no idea of the horrors involved, particularly for women and children who are attacked, beaten, and raped repeatedly. It was also very enlightening to learn than most migrants are not merely searching for a better life in the U.S. but they are literally fleeing for their lives. This book is very controversial because many have accused Cummins, who identifies as white, of cultural appropriation and have called her out for her stereotypical depiction of Mexicans. We had a great discussion, with an amazing moderator who is Mexican, about the fact that this story made all of us feel more sympathetic towards the plight of migrants and any book, regardless of who wrote it, that shines a light on a dark subject and gets people talking about it is a good thing. This book is a work of fiction that may have some inaccuracies but we didn't think that they detracted from the importance or relevance of the story.  I found it to be incredibly compelling, suspenseful, and heartbreaking and I highly recommend it.

Note:  The next selection for the Barnes & Noble Book Club is A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler.  Go here for more information and to sign up.  As always, if you are local consider joining us on April 7 at the Layton Barnes & Noble.  We are a small but lively group!