American Dirt

LoveReading Says

When a book grabs you from the first page with bullets shooting past a young eight year old boy, you know this is going to be one gripping read. Lydia is married to an investigative journalist trying to save Acapulco and expose the cartels who are destabilising their beloved home city. After a particular article exposes the main boss of the Los Jardineros cartel "La Lechuza", sixteen of Lydia's family are gunned down at a family get-together. She loses almost everyone she loves - with only her 8 year old son left.

This story is of Luca and his Mami - on the run and their journey to escape the cartel that smashed their lives into smithereens. My heart was in my mouth and many times during the course of the book, I realised I was holding my breath in horror at the death and suffering.

I felt their pain, the ragged wounds and was with the characters every step of the way willing them on, from Acapulco to the horror that is “La Bestia”, the beast, the death train, a network of Mexican fright trains that are utilised by US-bound migrants to traverse the length of Mexico, and into el Norte.

The sensible bookstore owning wife morphs into a filthy, penniless, machete-carrying Lydia who is forced to put her grief on hold and transform to keep them alive. Her strength pounds off the page as they become migrants trying to escape to the US and she puts as many miles as possible between the scene of the massacre and her beloved Luca.

This gripping and powerful story of a woman's love for her son, is an absolute page-turner I couldn't put down. It's an emotional rollercoaster of 53 days across 2645 miles of hell and an absolute triumph. 

Deborah Maclaren

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