A Colombian family of three—Elena, Mauro, and baby Karina—go
to the U.S. to escape the violence in their home country. Ironically, the constant stream of shootings
in the U.S. unsettles them and causes them to doubt the wisdom of their
decision. A bigger problem, of course,
is their undocumented status. Elena
gives birth to two more children, Nando and Talia, while in the States. In another weird twist, Talia, an American
citizen, is sent to live with her grandmother in
Bogotá, because Elena cannot work and care
for an infant simultaneously. By this
time, Mauro has already been deported, so that we have a split family. Plus, Elena did not really want to leave
Colombia in the first place, and now she is torn about whether or not to stay
in the U.S.. Fast forward fifteen years,
and Talia has escaped from a juvenile detention center so that she can join her
mother and siblings in New Jersey.
Everything I’ve said so far is pretty much the premise, but the other
stuff that happens, in both Colombia and the U.S., is glossed over and told in
a very detached manner. In other words,
this book did not grab me emotionally, except for the connection between Elena
and Mauro, although no one would categorize this book as a love story, and the
trepidation that Talia feels about reuniting with her mother, brother, and
sister, whom she does not know at all.
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