Rawr Reader,
It's only when you stop looking that you find what you were looking for. Most people imply love, I imply book slumps. >_>
The synopsis for Infinite Country by Patricia Engel is provided by Goodreads:
They travel to Houston and send wages back to Elena’s mother, all the while weighing whether to risk overstaying their tourist visas or to return to Bogotá. As their family expands, and they move again and again, their decision to ignore their exit dates plunges the young family into the precariousness of undocumented status, the threat of discovery menacing a life already strained. When Mauro is deported, Elena, now tasked with caring for their three small children, makes a difficult choice that will ease her burdens but splinter the family even further.
Award-winning, internationally acclaimed author Patricia Engel, herself the daughter of Colombian immigrants and a dual citizen, gives voice to Mauro and Elena, as well as their children, Karina, Nando, and Talia—each one navigating a divided existence, weighing their allegiance to the past, the future, to one another, and to themselves. Rich with Bogotá urban life, steeped in Andean myth, and tense with the daily reality for the undocumented in America, Infinite Country is the story of two countries and one mixed-status family—for whom every triumph is stitched with regret and every dream pursued bears the weight of a dream deferred.
Reference:
Bookseller newsletters.
Review:
I think there should be a petition to make this book mandatory to be read in high school.
Not only is this a beautiful, tragic story, it's woven and stitched with so much heart and perseverance and empathy and spirit. We explore the two generations, from the parents' youth to the end of their three children's adolescence, straddling two eras that shaped one generation for a life they could never prepare for in another foreign land. And Engel knows how to write. I borrowed this as a digital copy from my library—but I highlighted so many lines.
While it's been some time since I read it, Infinite Country reminded me a lot of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. They both follow young children having to face the mercilessness of the real world at an early age, and while they both face tribulations, they endure because they believe what life could be is worth enduring through the ruthlessness of the present. Both stories follow hard times for these families, as books tend to do I know, but you just can't get them out of your head. Life is so beautiful because they're able to endure and remain hopeful.
What was a pleasant surprise from the narrative was the inclusion of South American mythology incorporated in Talia's chapters. The stories her father as child told her were more than childhood comforts, they connected her to her distant family and guided her on her way back to them. This dive into Colombian folklore felt so rich and magical and inserted in the story to exist as Talia's lifeline when circumstances turned for the worst. And maybe for us as readers too.
Engel also brilliantly folded the children's nationalities overtop one another. The oldest Karina is born in Colombia, raised in the States. Nando is born and raised in the States. Then Talia is born in the States, raised in Colombia. While I won't get into how and why this was done, I really loved how beautifully simple and complex Engel wrote their lives.
All the praise to the author because something else she brilliantly showcases throughout her story is the penetrating fear of deportation. Every decision Elena and Mauro make is for their family, and they make difficult choices to avoid the dreaded circumstance of being taken away, or worse, separated. They want a safer, happier life than the violent and poor life they left behind in Colombia, however over the months and years they understand the States may not be the fantasy told to them. But it's very much a real fear because Americans with citizens as their protective shield commit all sorts of crimes and immoral acts to manipulate, take advantage of, and humiliate foreigners who only want a good, peaceful life. While I'm not Colombian, I am Hispanic, and felt it very easy to resonate with the struggles this family went through.
Set upon a contemporary backdrop, this narrative jumps to the present, because this isn't about a third world nation centuries, even decades ago. The people living like this are a short flight away in the very same world as untouchable to us as we are to them. Immigrants are not a burden on society. They are not criminals. They are just people who don't have the United States of America as their country of origin on their passports. We can't stereotype. The government and society need to do better in protecting immigrants and children of immigrants because if we look deeper, we'll become more compassionate and more worldly to the circumstances in other countries. Because logically, why would people who have good lives uproot and abandon everything they know just to ruin someone's ordinarily boring life?
At the root of Infinite Country, much like Encanto which I watched last week in the theater, is family. It's tenacity. It's love. It's life and moving forward, not just moving on.
And any book that can make me get teary-eyed, which to this day is only four books (The Fellowship of the Ring, Noughts & Crosses, this one, and honestly another book although I forgot which one so okay I guess it doesn't count so just three books . . . ) deserves all the stars. I can't wait to read another one of Engel's books.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Quote
(soooo many good ones but I'm gonna go with my top three):
"I hate the term undocumented. It implies people like my mother and me don't exist without a paper trail."
"I remember wondering what it must feel like to belong to American whiteness and to know you can do whatever you want because nobody you love is deportable."
"I told her I understood what it was to want to create justice to fix an injustice even if my justice could be considered a crime."
-Infinite Country, Patricia Engel
My Goodreads:
Next To Read:
The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson
Spoilers:
Chapter Nineteen for me is when it really started to get good. I really appreciated Engel brought the other two siblings forward and gave them their own voice. While not formatted as a letter, I felt the voices of the two American-raised kids, particularly Karina who I had highlighted a bunch of lines from her chapters, sounded very authentic. Karina is a highly intelligent woman who unfortunately cannot show her true potential because she would risk her anonymity. Nando is a middle child who wants to do more but can't, and is probably forgotten about more than the eldest or the missing youngest. I'm not a middle child but I felt for him.
While Talia might get most of the trophies for being strong and independent, I have to acknowledge and nominate Elena because she is exactly the sort of female character I love to read about. The power of a mother. Mothers are the strongest creatures on Earth and Engel kindly showed us and not told. But Mauro has a place in my heart because yes, Latin men can be sensitive and faithful and family-oriented while still have their downfalls and flaws.
Immigration policies in America are and will be a political debate for a long time. I know one book can't suddenly change the mind of someone who believes immigrants should be sent back no questions asked, however I do think this one book can definitely make the subject open for discussion and even lead the way to understanding. I haven't read a book about immigration that's hit so hard before and it's probably because there isn't a lot of positive, commercialized narratives on Hispanic people persevering and living, but I definitely think this deserves a place on my bookshelf.
Until Next Time,
Nicole Ciel
