Jeanine Cummins, an American author, has written four books – memoir titled A Rip in Heaven and three novels: The Outside Boy, The Crooked Branch, and American Dirt.
Lydia Quixano Pérez, runs a bookstore in Acapulco, Mexico, living a comfortable life with her husband, Sebastian and her son Luca.
Yesterday, Lydia had a bookshop.
Yesterday, Lydia was married to a journalist.
Yesterday, she was with everyone she loved most in the world.
Today, she lost almost everyone except her son Luca……..
The story portrays the painful journey of Lydia and her son Luca, as undocumented migrants. Lydia and her son witness the murders of her 16 family members including her husband Sebastian.
Both their lives are at stake, and they are on the run to protect themselves, the drug lord who is responsible for all the murders of her family members. Her life changes drastically overnight, she had a beautiful family, a bookstore, perfect life, and now she has lost it all.
Through the journey, she endures kidnapping, ransom, murders, rape, etc, and also gathers some friends.
I do not know the ground reality of migrants from Mexico or any of their issues, so can’t comment on how much is true on the struggles mentioned in the story.
The experiences of Lydia, her son Luca and other characters in the story that they endure during the journey makes them not to give their fight, to reach the other side of the hardship. It also opens up the readers’ understanding, of the reality of these migrants.
Both experiences a plethora of emotions reflect upon their happy memories over time, as they try to forge ahead into the future and move away from their painful past.
Personally, the ending did not do any justice to the story. It was rather a disappointing ending and could have been much better.
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