“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. The nuns believed silence a weapon, teaching the girls that only with it could they discover the depths of their interior without being servants to the temptations of this world.â€
Infinite Country
By Patricia Engle
Source: Advance review copy
Talia is the 15-year-old girl main protagonist and as the novel opens she is in a juvenile detention center somewhere in a remote part of the Colombian countryside. She is desperate to get out of the detention center and make her way to Bogota to her father and to the plane ticket he has waiting for her to get to the U.S. and be reunited with her family.
Her journey is treacherous but along the way she meets people who will offer her rides and help her in other ways to get to Bogota. As the story unfolds we learn why she was in the detention center to begin with and about the love story of her parents. Mauro and Elena who had dreams of going to the North and a better future but that no one prepared them for the difficulties ahead and some of the very difficult choices they have to make.
How does a parent decide one child stays in one country and another child in a different country? What happens you have to rely on strangers to keep you safe and they betray you? And, in the end are the sacrifices you make for your parents and your children worth it?
I loved the description of Colombia and the weaving of Colombian myths into the storyline. It’s a book with some violence and as Talia is making her way across the country I felt on edge expecting dangers at every turn because let’s not forget, she is a 15 year-old with no money and wanted by the law. But she is fierce and resilient.
This is a definite keeper for me. It raised a lot of emotions for me and made me think about the very real families who have to make difficult choices like these. I highly recommend it.
I remember this book from a previous post in which you had mentioned the opening lines. I’d liked the premise as well as the cover. I knew it would turn out to be a great book! 😎
This book pulled me in with that first sentence. Such a moving and thought-provoking story, it will surely be one of my favorites this year. Great review!
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book set in Colombia. But I really like the sound of this one. I’m so glad you reviewed it! 🙂
This does sound like an interesting look at migration, and I do want to know about why she was in the detention center. That first sentence is a great hook!
This book sounds so good in so many aspects. Will definitely keep this book in mind. Thanks for the great review, Iliana!
I just read that opening line to my husband and he laughed and said it’s great! 🙂 This book has been on my radar for a few months and I plan to read it. Print or audio…?
I bought this book a few weeks ago on a trip and have been hoping to read it before now. Maybe soon, after my current reads. Love your review and so glad that you loved it too.
I’ve been looking forward to this one too. On the subject of migration, I recently finished Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive. It’s unusual and perhaps wouldn’t suit every reader, or even me in a different reading mood, but I just loved it.