Hosted by Rose City Reader
Beginning:
It was her idea to tie up the nun. The dormitory lights were cut every night at ten. Locked into their rooms, girls commanded to a cemetery silence before sleep, waking at dawn for morning prayers.
Hosted by Freda’s Voice
Page 56
She understood he was waiting for lies so she opted for a version of the truth. “I ran away from my boarding school. I need to get back to Bogota. My father is waiting for me. I have no money. Can you help me?
The Book:
Infinite Countryby Patricia Engel
Pages: 208
Published by Avid Reader Press
Publication Date March 2, 2021
Goodreads
I often wonder if we are living the wrong life in the wrong country.
Talia is being held at a correctional facility for adolescent girls in the forested mountains of Colombia after committing an impulsive act of violence that may or may not have been warranted. She urgently needs to get out and get back home to Bogotá, where her father and a plane ticket to the United States are waiting for her. If she misses her flight, she might also miss her chance to finally be reunited with her family in the north.
How this family came to occupy two different countries, two different worlds, comes into focus like twists of a kaleidoscope. We see Talia’s parents, Mauro and Elena, fall in love in a market stall as teenagers against a backdrop of civil war and social unrest. We see them leave Bogotá with their firstborn, Karina, in pursuit of safety and opportunity in the United States on a temporary visa, and we see the births of two more children, Nando and Talia, on American soil. We witness the decisions and indecisions that lead to Mauro’s deportation and the family’s splintering—the costs they’ve all been living with ever since.
Award-winning, internationally acclaimed author Patricia Engel, herself a dual citizen and the daughter of Colombian immigrants, gives voice to all five family members as they navigate the particulars of their respective circumstances. And all the while, the metronome ticks: Will Talia make it to Bogotá in time? And if she does, can she bring herself to trade the solid facts of her father and life in Colombia for the distant vision of her mother and siblings in America?
Rich with Bogotá urban life, steeped in Andean myth, and tense with the daily reality of the undocumented in America, Infinite Country is the story of two countries and one mixed-status family—for whom every triumph is stitched with regret, and every dream pursued bears the weight of a dream deferred.
I have heard good things about this one, and the excerpts are tempting me. Thanks for sharing, and here’s mine: “EVERY VOW YOU BREAK”
I’m not too far in but, Infinite Country is a very compelling read. The writing grabbed me from the first page.
It sounds like a really interesting book. The opening line grabs your attention.
Very alluring snippets!! Happy weekend!
Sounds like a book where a lot of things are going to go wrong. I hope it all works out in the end. My selection this week is called Dragon Hoops
I love the look of this cover. Thanks for sharing!
Lauren @ Always Me