Cummins had long been interested in the migrant crisis unfolding on the United States’ southern border, but felt unqualified to put readers on the perilous path of border-crossers. The stories writers should tell – and their moral responsibilities when writing across sexual, class and racial difference – have increasingly become the subject of public sparring and political division. Cummins, who was born in Spain, where her father was a naval officer, identifies as Puerto Rican and lives in New York, says she was hugely reluctant to adopt the narrative point of view of migrants making the treacherous journey across the Mexico-US border in her new novel American Dirt. The novelist spent a fair amount of time running away from her own story. Jeanine Cummins’ characters were not alone in seeking a way out. “This,” Lydia reflects, “is how it happens.” Safety is in El Norte they are now migrantes. Bookstore owner Lydia and her eight-year-old son Luca are the only survivors. Toda mi familia esta muerta por mi culpa: my whole family is dead because of me. The cartel’s calling card is left alongside 16 bodies. A birthday party becomes a backyard massacre.
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