American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins opens when La
Lechuza (a cartel Jefe) murders Lydia’s family in Acapulco. Only she and her eight-year-old son survive. She
expects to also be murdered and begins her horrific journey to escape to El
Norte (America). On this illegal journey, she meets good people, and bad people, and other migrants. A gripping novel about
the reasons people move to the United States and the difficulties they
encounter. A novel in the tradition of Grapes
of Wrath by John Steinbeck.An emotional roller coaster.
Note to sensitive readers: The narrative alternates between (1) the terrifying experiences of Lydia and Luca’s journey, (2) their heart-warming encounters with helpful people, and (3) “research reports” told by fellow travelers. I found that if I didn’t stop during the terrors, I wouldn’t get as many nightmares.
This novel is surrounded by controversy. Cultural appropriation. Demonization of Mexico and Mexicans. Unrealistic characterization of migrants.
I compare this book with The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri which follows another illegal migrant from Syria to England. Both books make similar decisions about how to present the plight of these desperate people. Both books recount the story of people with adequate resources and a successful journey, including the detail that both protagonists speak excellent English. The plight of the less fortunate is told, but not experienced by the protagonists.
Before the murders, Lydia owns a bookstore in Acapulco and Luca is a successful student. He is an eight-year-old geography savant.
Incidental to the odyssey of Lydia and Luca, we learn of other people running from violent cartels, young girls escaping forced prostitution, men regularly visiting El Norte for unskilled labor to support their families, a deported mother who initially entered legally, has a middle-class life, and U.S. citizen children, and a Ph.D. student who also entered legally, but got deported in a bureaucratic mix-up.
The heroes are the migrants and the people who
support them: churches, sympathetic railroad workers, regular people, and the
best coyote in Nogales. The villains are the cartels who drive people to migrate
north and the official and unofficial predators who prey on the migrants during
their journeys.
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