This really is an important book about country and family and trying to find your place in both. These are experiences that I can only imagine because of tellings like this. Easy to read, lyrical writing entwined with mythology, this will change the way you think of immigration. Strongly recommended.

INFINITE COUNTRY by Patricia Engel is one of my favorite books of the year so far and I believe the characters and action will also appeal to our students. Engel tells the story of Talia, a teenager who escapes from a rural correctional facility in Colombia in order to return to her father, Mauro, in Bogota. There, she hopes to board a plane and be reunited with her siblings and mother, Elena, who live in the United States. Talia, too, was born in the US, but her father was deported shortly afterwards and with three young children, her mother had little choice but to send Talia to be raised by her abuela. Engel shifts time and narrators to offer thought-provoking perspective on immigration (" ... that's the thing about being paperless. This country locks you in until it locks you out") and on family relationships. At one point, Elena muses, "She 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." The writing is superb and INFINITE COUNTRY received starred reviews from Bookist, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly ("sharp, unflinching narrative teems with insight").

Infinite Country opens with the thrilling escape of teenage Talia from a girl’s reform school in northern Colombia, pulling us into her story very quickly. Her escape is motivated by the desire to get home to her father who holds a plane ticket for her, a week hence, that will enable her to return to her birthplace, to her mother and two siblings whom she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.

Talia’s journey south threads throughout the narrative, like a serpent meandering towards its den. Confident in her ability to arrive at her destination, intuitively driven.

The story reverses and we learn how it came about that Elena and her children Nando and Karina are in America, while Mauro and Talia are in Colombia. How dreamer Mauro fell in love with contented Elena, in the market, their lives being played out on a small canvas until Mauro shared his dream and Elena facilitated it.

The dream becomes the nightmare of survival as their visas expire and they’re part of “the undocumented” moving from place to place in search of work until the day Mauro gets caught, and not long after swiftly deported. Elena becomes the sole bread winner for the family, leading to more heart-breaking events that unfold.

As I read their story, it held the echo of hundreds of couples, of families, split and fragmented by migration, exile, circumstance. This section is written in the slower form of a narrative summary, though equally compelling due to the feelings and questions it evokes in the reader as we read. And just as we begin to wonder where the action is, it shifts back to Mauro and we witness his tumultuous return to Elena’s mother Perla, who will raise his child, Talia.

It’s an interesting blend of narrative perspectives, the switch between Talia’s adventurous journey south and the backstory of how she came to be escaping to escape, including her parents story. Through Mauro and Talia we are also exposed to their cultural stories, the Andean myths of their people, of serpent, jaguar, condor and the one story that haunts Mauro, one he wished he’d never learned, that he will never tell.

"Mauro appreciated that these stories offered explanations for his being, reminded him there was another land, a better one of divine logic wrapped inside this professed tierra de Colón, that he wasn’t pacing the earth blind as he often felt and Creation provided clues that made paths clearer, as simple as the blackbird song that announces oncoming rain and the whistles of the Andean sparrow that signal the clouds will soon part."

Near the end, it switches again to a second person “you” voice, and it’s Nando speaking to his sister Karina. For the reader, this is as abrupt as the deportation of the father, a seismic shift of sorts.

It switches again to the first person “I”, the quiet reassuring voice of Karina, and we learn it is she who has been telling us this story all along.

It’s a thought provoking story of one family that is reminiscent of so many, universal and yet particular to this one family, brilliantly showing the struggle not just to survive in a new country, but to survive leaving, to survive separation, to develop the strength required to hold steadfast to a dream and if not to the dream, to one’s family, who will change, evolve, split, fragment, become something other.

From an interview with Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire Patricia Engel Captures The Interior World of Immigration

"You write at the end of the novel, “Maybe there is no nation or citizenry.” What do borders mean to you?

PE: I think something that has always sparked my curiosity, as somebody who loves animals and nature, is how we can watch endless documentaries marveling about the miracle of migration when animals do it and how they know how to cross other lands in pursuit of resources.

What doesn’t occur to us are the ways that the human species is a migratory species, which has ensured its own survival, literally, because of the instinct to migrate. Borders are ever-changing things, as we’ve seen; countries often change them, rename themselves, and cede parts of their borders to other countries.

Borders are man-made, designed to serve special interests, and really are not natural. We shouldn’t be surprised by the ways they fall short of what human instincts and human needs require."

About the Author, Patricia Engel
Patricia Engel has written a number of award winning, internationally acclaimed novels, including The Veins of the Ocean, It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris and Vida, for which she was the first woman to be awarded Colombia’s national prize in literature, the 2017 Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana. Her books have been translated into many languages, her short fiction widely published and her criticism and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Virginia Quarterly Review, Catapult, and in numerous anthologies. She currently teaches creative writing at Miami University.

Patricia Engel, herself the daughter of Colombian immigrants and a dual citizen, gives voice to Mauro, Elena and their children – each one navigating a divided existence, weighing their allegiance to the past, the future, to one another, and to themselves. Rich with Bogotá urban life, steeped in Andean myth, and tense with the daily reality for 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.

Infinite Country is full of heartbreak, the story of a family fractured by the border, and how they lives unfold without each other. Engel gives each character a bold, unwavering voice—I think my favorite were the children speaking up in the first person by surprise. It’s an important novel that gives voice to the experience of being undocumented and the layers of hardship that a Colombian family faces in their pursuit of a better life for their children. I especially loved the consideration of what constitutes family, and how family relationships shift and change with distance + time. This book is worth the hype.

𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐘 by Patricia Engel isn’t an easy book for me to pull my thoughts together on. This is the story of a Colombian family torn apart by immigration laws in the U.S., their struggles to stay connected, and the journey to find their way back together. It’s a book that made me cry...multiple times. The story begins with 15-year old Talia who has just escaped from a girls' correctional facility in the mountains of Colombia. She MUST get back to Bogata quickly to make her already scheduled flight to the U.S. where she will join her mother and siblings. Born in the U.S., Talia has spent most of her life in Colombia with her father and grandmother.⁣
⁣
Engel takes the reader back to Talia’s parents, Elena and Mauro, their decision to leave Colombia, and all that happened as they lived undocumented in the U.S. It’s a beautiful, heartbreaking story of a family’s love and longing for a better life. In that, I found 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 so moving. It fell off a little for me when the story drifted into folklore and parts of Elena’s and Mauro’s childhoods. It was also a bit jarring when two thirds of the way into the story two new points of view surfaced. Though as I read on, I very much liked the role each played in the telling of this moving immigrant story.⁣ (Rounded up from 3.5)
⁣

This book is about a family that is not only separated by borders but by their immigration status. Mauro has been deported and is living with Talia in Columbia. Meanwhile, Elena is struggling to live in the United States with their two other children, Nando and Karina.

The writing is beautiful! I couldn't put it down not only because of the writing but for the story. The story was extremely relatable for someone like me. My parents also immigrated to the US when I was a baby so this one was hard hitting. If you or your family came to the US as an immigrant(s), this will definitely hit you to the core. Brace yourself because this is a story that will stay with you for a very long time.

I previously gave this 4 stars on Goodreads. After having a month to think about this book, I've decided to bump up my rating to 5 stars! I've been talking about it so much lately and I can't stop thinking about it🥺 Although this is a really short book, it's definitely the type of book I'd like to read again.

Infinite Country was a beautiful story about how far a family is willing to go to seek a better life.

Talia is locked away in a correctional facility in Columbia for a violent crime. Talia escapes with the hope of going to America to meet up with her family. The story weaves back and forth between Talia’s quest to get to America and Talia’s families journey to America many years ago. The family works hard to get a coveted citizenship card, but even IF they get one, can they escape the racism they have encountered? Is America really the place for freedom and happiness?

Is it all worth turning their back on Columbia, the country that raised them?

I first caught wind of this book (the first that I have read from the author) when I saw spoilers for Book of the Month Club's February choices - and it's since also been made a part of Reese Witherspoon's book club! And I can see why both clubs chose this title. Its premise is both fascinating and timely. It focuses on one fragmented family - Elena and Mauro meet in Bogota, Colombia as teenagers. It's not long before he convinces her to take their infant daughter to America where they can earn more money and send some back to Elena's mother. Only documented with tourist visas, soon two more children are added to their family, pushing them into a mixed-legality status within the US.

Talia, the youngest of their children, and though born in America, is the only one to grow up in Colombia, raised largely by her grandmother. As their family story unfolds across years and various locations, it's hard to believe that so much fits so neatly within only 208 pages! It hardly seems possible as each character comes fully to life. There are moments of hope and love, alongside discrimination, hatred and violence. From the brutal death of a kitten in an alley to another scene of matter-of-fact rape, this isn't one that every reader will be able to handle. What I especially enjoyed here are the stories that both Mauro and Elena weave of Colombia itself. These help brighten the story and in the end, it's actually a lot more uplifting than I imagined it would be. I think that this will be a real discussion starter for its readers and am happy that it's receiving so much attention!

Elena and Mauro come from different backgrounds when they meet as teenagers, but share a love that will be tested by borders, boundaries, and hardships. When they leave Colombia for the U.S. with their baby daughter, Karina, they have no idea that their journey will not end when they arrive with tourist visas, but will span the U.S. in search for stability. They have two more children, Nando and Talia. Spanning the course of about 20 years, Patricia Engel writes a moving novel intertwined with the legends of Colombia about a family's perseverance. I loved the use of Spanish and Colombian mythology/legend interspersed throughout the narrative that added texture that acted in contrast to the chapters with Nando and Karina's perspectives.
I did not know how much I needed this book! As first-gen daughter of immigrants, I strive to seek out various voices of the incredibly diverse immigrant experience. Are there aspects that overlap? Of course. Is every immigration story the same? Definitely not! Nevertheless, the tendrils of similarities, the overwhelming loss and fear, grappling with identity, the crossroads that Elena has to face and decisions they must make to better their family can strike a chord for any reader. Engel has written a beautiful ode to Colombia, immigrants, and anyone who feels torn between two lands.

This is the captivating story of a family torn apart by United States' immigration policies. Sure it is fiction, but it is also a realistic look at the torturous maze and horrible decisions that thousands of people are subject to while trying to seek a better life for their family. With points of view provided mainly by the parents, Elena and Mauro, and the youngest daughter, Talia, the reader gets to see how the situation is viewed and reacted to by multiple generations and how this untenable situation impacts them all differently. I loved Ms. Engel's characters. They are flawed and richly developed. I love the nuanced situations she places her characters in. This is a terrific book for those looking to understand those seeking the safety and supposed prosperity that the United States offers.

This book moved me to tears! Literally, I was sobbing (not just slow tears running down my face!). Something about the way Engel writes is so impactful that it emotionally destroyed me. I’ve read books that make me sad and that I reflect on for a long time, but few books have made me feel so deeply that it felt like it was truly happening to me and my family.

Infinite Country is about a family split between two countries: the United States and Colombia. Mauro and Elena decide to travel to America in seach of a better life, but when Mauro is deported, Elena is left to figure out how to care for her three children. She makes the heartwrenching decision to send the baby back to Colombia to be raised by her mother and Mauro because it’s impossible to find childcare for a baby while she works to make money to keep her family afloat.

“She 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.”

Patricia Engel, “Infinite Country”
When the baby, now fifteen years old, decides she wants to go back to her mother and siblings in America, Mauro is left behind. He doesn’t begrudge his daughter’s desires to go, but where does it leave him? Sadly, this is a situation many families are way too familiar with, and the way Engel writes about it ripped my heart out. It’s important to read stories like this because it’s quite simple for us “documented” Americans to take this life and country for granted. When we have no fear of being deported or torn away from our families, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to the intricacies of immigration policy in this country.

“I remember wondering what it must feel like to belong to American whiteness and to know you can do whatever you want because nobody you love is deportable. Your worst crime might get you locked up forever but they’ll never take away your claim to this country.”

Patricia Engel, “Infinite Country”
If you’d like other book suggestions about trying to make a life in America as an “undocumented” person, I’d also recommend The Affairs of the Falcóns (read my thoughts here) and The Undocumented Americans (read my thoughts here).

“That’s because as long as we’re here, we’re vulnerable. Until something changes in the laws and the climate so that people understand we are not the enemy.”

Patricia Engel, “Infinite Country”

I went back and forth on this one. There is no denying that Engel has a deft hand here that writes beautifully and passionately about her characters. But with a narrative that is driven mainly by these fascinating people, it lacks, for me, thorough character development. The allegorical use of mythology to tell this story was interesting enough to me and it enticed me to do a little research of my own to understand more. The climax could have been a bit more strong but I was satisfied overall. This gets a safe recommendation from yours truly.

Heart-renching page turner. Immersive, engaging- a powerful read with an important message. The author humanizes the experience of the undocumented immigrant. Trigger warning for sexual violence.

The writing in this book is really good. The way she manipulates language to craft the book, and in so few pages, is really impressive. I enjoyed reading the book and was curious what would happen in the end. I like the ways she complicated our ideas of family and love and home and belonging and grief (so much grief). This was a layered way to look at immigration. Much appreciated. I would've liked more plot, or maybe the tempo wasn't quiet right for me, but none the less I felt things.

3.5★, rounded up for the introduction to Muisca folklore.

This book was one that really caught my eye on one of those most anticipated lists at new year, although I haven't read this author before. It largely met my expectations, apart from a minor issue that I will get to. The unexpected pleasure though, was to learn of the gods and legends of the Muisca people of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Colombian Andes, sprinkled throughout the contemporary story. As I understand it, this is a hallmark of Engel's writing, so I plan to seek out her earlier novels in the hope of reading more accessible Latino lore.

At 15 years of age, US citizen Talia has been brought up in Colombia by her maternal grandmother and with the sporadic help of her father, Mauro. She loves them both dearly, but after her grandmother dies, she's looking forward to joining her mother and siblings in the USA. However, actions taken in a moment of rage have landed her in a distant girls' reform school, at risk of missing her flight 'home'. While resourceful Talia makes her way back to Bogotá, we learn the story of Mauro and Elena, and find out how this family came to be split up across continents.

These story threads alternate in a fairly conventional manner for the first two-thirds of the book. Initially I thought Mauro & Elena would be mainly 'backstory', provided for context to Talia's situation, but in fact for me they were the meat in the sandwich to Talia's bread. Growing up through the worst of Colombia's civil war and social unrest, as teenagers they meet and fall in love. Mauro has seen a lot worse than Elena though, relatively sheltered as she has been in Bogotá, so despite the love they share for their country, it is Mauro whose desire for a better life propels them to leave with their first child, Karina. Although they arrive in the US by plane and with valid visas, their migration experience is not an easy one. Trying to do their best for their steadily growing family, they reach a point where a decision needs to be made about whether to return to Colombia or to stay and fall under the radar with no documentation.

It is as the two threads begin to converge that my problem arose. There was a change of perspective that I found quite jarring. Up until that point it had been a smooth, third-person view, and suddenly we get first-person. But who is it?? OK, it's Karina, but then it's Nando... The reason for the change became clear towards the end, but that didn't make it any less clumsy. As I said at the start, it was just a minor thing and didn't totally spoil the reading experience for me.

Although I wasn't wowed by this book as many other readers have been, I would recommend it as a good read, if not a must-read.

A story of migration unlike any I’ve previously read - telling the story of a family having to make tough choices in the hopes of eventually being able to be together. Nuanced, impactful, with no word wasted in just over 200 pages. Highly recommend for an emotional read full of heart.

I was given the opportunity to read and review this book through Net Galley and I am so glad! The story sucked you in and you'll find yourself thinking about the characters long after you finish the book. Can't wait to read more by this author!!

To be completely honest, I was hesitant about whether or not I would like this book.

I am so glad I took the leap and read it!!!

It was such a heartbreaking and realistic view of the reality that our migrant friends struggle with every single day by moving to the US. It is a very controversial topic and one I do not choose to dive into deeply in this review, but I really appreciated the raw and authentic story Engel created.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Just finished this book and am so impressed! For a shorter book (only 171 pages), Infinite Country covered so much ground and allowed me to be transported to Colombia. I feel like I truly got to know Talia, Elena, and Mauro. The way that Engel wove in the Spanish language and Andean myths is a masterpiece. Truly will be recommending this powerful and heart-breaking story to everyone.

A sad look at a family torn apart when a couple overstay their visas when they leave Colombia for the U.S. with their infant. They get snared in the pattern of hiding from authorities and the convoluted system of becoming legal while they have two more children who are born as citizens. The story unfolds in a somewhat scattered way from different points of view. A worthwhile read.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley