Infinite Country: a multi-generational saga in less than 200 pages

 

Infinite Country, a young adult and adult novel, by Patricia Engel clocks in at less than 200 pages, but it is a richly told story of a Colombian family whose choices have everlasting effects on future generations.  Engel rotates the point-of-view throughout the story so it is told in a series of present-day snapshots and flashbacks to when their family was started with the union of Elena and Mauro.

The story opens with 15-year Talia's breaking out of a juvenile detention facility in the Andes mountains, "it was her idea to tie up the nun."  Immediately the reader is drawn into the story and curious about all of the events that led to that point.  Thankfully, Engel reveals just enough information through each character's chapters so it slowly trickles out, piece by piece.  Talia's crime was justified in her mind yet "Talia considered how people who do horrible things can be victims, and how victims can be people who do horrible things."  Readers can discuss if this is true and when history has done this for various people.  Does this still happen today?

As the story moves forward the reader learns that "Talia's mother was abroad and sent Talia to Columbia when she was a baby but this story was so common it couldn't possibly be considered trauma."  The choice that Elena makes resonates with everyone in the family.  Readers can discuss if this is truly traumatic and in what way?  Engel continues to divulge more of the how and why behind Elena's decision and the way it is revealed through the different characters' chapters makes it most heart-wrenching to read.  

"People say drugs and alcohol are the greatest and most persuasive narcotics--the elements most likely to ruin a life.  They're wrong. It's love."  Engel drops this incredibly deep thought in the middle of the story as Mauro is dipping in and out of sobriety in his attempt to deal with the splitting up of his family.  Readers can talk about addiction and the ways in which love drives people to do the unthinkable.  How does Elena and Mauro's love story ruin lives? Did it ruin their own, their children's, Elena's mother's, or all of theirs, or none of theirs?

Another aspect of this novel that is especially meaningful is the idea of dual-identity that immigrants continually must grapple with on a daily basis.  Elena thinks, "when you leave one country for another, nobody tells you years will bleed together like rain on newsprint.  One year becomes five and five years becomes ten. Ten years become fifteen."  Even over the course of many years in another country, immigrants hope to one day return, but in this story, Elena cannot just visit Columbia since her status is undocumented.  Her family in the U.S. must straddle the awkward rope of trying to fit-in while not standing out and attracting the attention of authorities.  Readers can discuss the stress of living this way.  What are the drawbacks of this life for Elena and her children?  What are the benefits? Which outweighs the other?

Elena and Mauro's children's perspective are told in vastly different ways. Talia, the youngest, is in Colombia with her father and her side of the story is the first the reader learns.  Karina, the first-born, is in the U.S. with her mother and younger brother, who was born in the U.S. so his experience contrasts to hers.  She has to go to great lengths to wrap her mind around half of her family being in another country. A country that she is a citizen of but will never live in, unless she is found and deported by ICE.  Nando, the only son of the family is bullied incessantly but he keeps it all to himself.  Nando and Karina's perspectives are ones that readers can discuss. Who has it better?  

Elena "blamed herself for displacing her own children, especially her girls.  Karina and Talia, binational, each born in one country and raised in another like repotted flowers, creatures forced to live in the wrong habitat."  Mauro's upbringing, what he teaches Talia in terms of folklore and native Columbian stories, weaves its way through the story.  Engel beautifully uses the stories of the serpent, princesses, jaguar and condors to reflect what is happening to the family.  Readers can try to find the parallels in these mentions. Which family member fits each animal's role?

Overall, this story leaves the reader with hope, want for action on current immigration policies in the U.S., and more empathy towards immigrant stories.  Engel's Columbian background adds authenticity to every layer and is a must-read for any young adult and adult.