Despite its short length, the plot still feels full, the characters thoughtfully fleshed out, and enough description to conjure a believable setting. Engel has produced a tightly-written narrative with more than enough threads to keep even the most astute reader on their toes. Some of you may find this shocking, but this book is less than 200 pages long! Yes, an entire family saga told in 191 pages, so don’t tell me that 800 pages books are a necessary evil. Talia’s perspective is that of a new generation who lives with the knowledge that her parents left to make a better life for her, yet she has little to show for their brave actions. While the book begins with Talia’s account of escaping a girls reform school, (which can be a bit disorienting) Infinite Country is more focused on the lives of Elena and Mauro, and the sacrifices they make as parents. This fracturing of the family proves to be too much for Mauro as he falls deeper into alcoholism, wracked with longing and guilt for his wife and other children. After the birth of their third child Talia, Mauro is caught and deported, and quickly realizing the impossibility of raising a newborn and two other kids as a single working mother, Elena sends Talia back to Columbia to live with Mauro and her mother Perla. They arrive with visitor visas, but decide to stay illegally once they discover how much more money they can make working in America, the opportunities seemingly endless compared to the ever-increasing danger of Columbia. shortly after their daughter Karina is born. They are both quite poor, and finding themselves pregnant and unwed, Mauro vows to make a better life for his family, convincing Elena to take a trip to the U.S. How we define ‘our land’ and ‘our home’ is at the heart of this book, and not surprisingly, there are no easy answers.Įlena and Mauro live in Bogota, and they fall head-over-heels in love, finding refuge in each other’s arms while violence rages around them. These three animals, the condor, the jaguar, and the serpent all weave their way into this book’s mythical bedrock that cements each character’s connection to the land. It seems strange to admit, but the cover of Infinite Country by Patricia Engel is the first thing that drew me into it, which is rare for me I’m rarely swayed by the cover of a book, but I loved the metallic rainbow panels in between the detailed pencil sketches.
0 kommentar(er)
