Thanks to Flatiron Books for my advanced copy.

Let’s talk about this book that has been literally everywhere on Instagram recently. If you follow my account (_Lia_Reads_), you know that I really enjoyed this one but that I was processing some complicated feelings about it. The question of who gets to write stories about immigrants, as well as the complexity of only showing the violent side of Mexico (especially in light of the current political climate) has been circling in conversations around Bookstagram. I’m glad that this book has brought up those conversations and make me think more deeply about this book beyond “this is very well-written and deeply moving.” As a white woman in the USA, this was something I didn’t think about initially and I’m very glad I went into the book with those concerns in mind.

American Dirt is the story of one woman and her son escaping violence by a deadly drug cartel in Acapulco. When they first flee, they are just running to go somewhere but it quickly becomes clear that the only place that is safe is “el Norte,” the USA. You follow them as they move through Mexico, constantly afraid that the cartel is following them and facing other dangers along the way. Cummins, as she states in her author’s note, has done her research on the different journeys that an immigrant faces as they head through Mexico to the border. She shows us both the perspective of a Mexican immigrant and the Central Americans who come through Mexico to the USA. Your heart breaks for Lydia and Luca as they face unspeakable trials. Despite some of the characters feeling very one-dimensional, the story is gripping and I flew through it. Do I think it’s going to be THE book of 2020? No. But it was still very engaging.

However, there are two failures here, one on the part of the author and the other on the publicity team. Cummins had a great opportunity here to really flesh out the other immigrants, especially the Central American sisters, but many of them fell flat. I wanted more about their stories and perspectives and didn’t get them.

I’m also concerned about the way that the marketing team has pushed Cummins’ own ‘immigrant’ story as a justification for her writing this book. I do not doubt that being the partner of an undocumented European immigrant is nerve-wracking, but also imagine that her now-husband did not go through the same trials that Lydia and Luca do in the story.

What is also problematic for me with the book is the political climate it is appearing in and the way that I think many (especially white) readers will interpret it. As many Bookstagrammers and reviewers of color have pointed out, this is one fictional story about 2 immigrants from Mexico, not a representation of every day life everywhere in the country. But I think there is a risk here at universalizing Lydia and Luca, having them stand in for all Mexican people and all immigrants. I don’t think that means the story shouldn’t have been written (if that were the case, it would bring up a lot of questions about fiction as a whole). But I think that critical conversations need to be had about the story, including voices from different perspectives. This is one book that, if it exists in a vacuum, could serve to perpetuate more stereotypes.