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Beyond the individual tragedy and travail of the protagonists, Lydia and her 8-year-old son Luca, there’s a greater tragedy being portrayed: the destruction of an entire society in vast parts of Latin America which have fallen victim to criminal organizations that have penetrated all sectors of several nations, converting the instruments of law and justice into tools of the gangsters, enabling the narcos to terrorize, murder and pillage with impunity. For that reason, I’ve shelved this as a horror story. We’re invited by the writer to cheer for the mother and son, their safety and survival; but I cannot escape the realization that regardless of what becomes of them, there is no hope for the community they leave behind.
This is first and foremost a novel about our troubled times; it was written with a purpose, a message to North Americans. Their entire family murdered, themselves being pursued relentlessly, Lydia and her young son have no choice but to flee and attempt to enter the USA, “el norte�. Along the way, they encounter many desperate migrants like themselves.
Cummins� message is starkly enunciated by a priest who is trying to help the migrants, when he warns them that during their journey, every one of them will be robbed and brutalized in some way; many will be kidnapped, raped or murdered and their chance of crossing the border alive is scant. He urges all of them who are not fleeing for their personal safety to return to their homes or try to settle somewhere nearby. And many of them do so, swelling the population of towns near the border. Only those who cannot go home and stay alive will continue on. Thereby, Cummins seeks to demonstrate that these people attempting to enter the USA are not economic migrants as the US government would have us believe, but refugees fleeing for their lives. By and large, she is probably right, but it’s a message few in the USA want to hear.
So, in the end this becomes as much a political novel as a story about a few people’s personal tragedy. For that reason, the book has acquired enemies and its merits may be overshadowed by public controversy. As such, it’s likely to be praised by many and reviled by others as propaganda. It may soon be forgotten as a “period piece� once the migrant issues cease to be front page news. Which is unfortunate, because it’s a pretty good story.