“A stunning new story that follows a mixed-status Colombian family… This is an urgent look at the devastating effects that separation can wreck on one family.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
Just finished Infinite Country by Patricia Engel. This novel is about a family that comes from Columbia and illegally enters the United States to begin a brand new life. Mauro and Elena have come with their daughter Karina. They move from place to place trying to avoid deportation. They have two children while in America, Nando, a boy and Talia a girl.
Mauro is finally found out and deported back to Columbia. Elena eventually sends the youngest child, Talia, to Columbia to be with her father and Elena’s mother, until they can all be reunited.
The years pass and Talia gets in trouble and is sent to a type of reform prison. This is where the novel actually starts. Now Talia has an opportunity to go back to America and be with her mother and her siblings. She must get to Bogata by a certain date to catch a plane to the US.
The main story is about Talia’s attempt to break out of the place where she is being held and to get to Bogata to catch that plane.
The book gives a very good insight into the lives of illegal immigrants, those who are attempting to have a normal life here in America. The constant living in fear, and the thought that since two of the children are citizens of the US, they may be separated if the mother is caught and deported. The back stories are told very well, and for a short book of 180 pages, the story is detailed with enough incidents that the book could have easily been much longer.
The book is very good just the way it is, and would be an excellent choice for anyone looking for a quick, really good read.
Reviewed by:
Richard Franco
Added 11th November 2021
