American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

 

In early October we had yet another patio gathering at my house to

discuss American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. 

This was a story of illegal immigrants who march to the

borders of the United States trying to escape the violence

of the cartels, inhumane gangs, rape, poverty. It is not an

easy story to read as it is filled with violence as a Mexican woman

who is middle classed is force to flee north with her 8 year old son

as their entire family of 16 is gunned down as they hid during a family

gathering, Her husband was a journalist who published an expose on

a powerful Jefe of a drug cartel who had an actual literary relationship

with the protagonist Lydia.

This book got to fame because it was on of Oprah's book club choices.

It was hotly contested by the Hispanic reviewers who claimed the author was

not Mexican and had no right to the telling of their story. Even the

McMiillan Publishers were brought to account for how they chose

manuscripts and whether books are chosen based on the probabilities of

them being purchased.

Despite all the  controversy about the book I think that the take away

is that it exposes the reader to the immigrant situation and maybe they 

see things they did not know about. The dangerous riding of the trains

and the arduous foot treks of thousands of miles where one is most likely to be 

a victim of rape and robbery. It is a heartbreaking read.

The solution to the problem is

certainly a big part of our political scene today. It is not an easy issue to solve.

We had a great turnout. Everyone except for Nancy and Doug.

Madeleine chose Fredrik Backman's new book "Anxious People".

We have to see how to proceed with our meetings as the weather

changes. But as of now Madeleine has offered her screened in porch for

November.