American Dirt is a 2020 novel by Jeanine Cummins. It tells the story of Lydia Pérez, an average bookstore owner living in Acapulco, Mexico, with her loving husband Sebastián and her young son, Luca. She has a close friendship with Javier, a gentleman who frequents her store. Lydia’s life is comfortable, albeit living in Acapulco is not always easy—especially with the increasing violence of the cartels wreaking havoc on the city, including Los Jardineros, a newer cartel already making a name for their savage punishments on those who don’t comply with them. Sebastián’s job as a journalist speaking out against Los Jardineros was always risky, but Lydia’s life is shattered forever when she discovers that the kingpin of the cartel is none other than Javier.
What follows is the brutal slaughtering of Sebastián, Lydia’s mother, and fourteen other members of Lydia’s family. Despite the overwhelming grief of such a tragedy, Lydia quickly realizes that Javier has his sights set on her and Luca. Lydia sets in motion her desperate plan to flee to the U.S. in hopes of keeping herself and Luca safe from Los Jardineros—a plan that will be dangerous at every turn, as there seems to be nowhere that the Los Jardineros aren’t watching.
American Dirt's Tropes:
- Affably Evil: Javier is a soft-spoken, heartfelt man who bonds with Lydia over their love of books and their families. He’s also a merciless cartel kingpin who has killed countless people, later including Lydia’s entire family, children and all.
- Agony of the Feet: A painful blister on Luca’s foot necessitates him and Lydia pausing during their trek through the stormy nighttime desert. This one small stop almost utterly separates them from the group, but after a few terrifying minutes, they successfully rejoin them, making Lydia weep with relief.
- Anachronic Order: While Lydia and Luca carry on their dangerous journey, the book flashes back to several events leading up to it, such as Lydia and Javier meeting and forming their friendship at the bookstore.
- Big Sister Instinct: Protecting her little sister Rebeca is one of Soledad’s main priorities. She set in motion the plan to flee to the U.S. when her ex-boyfriend and rapist Ivan instructed her to bring Rebeca to him, and all through their journey she does her best to make sure she’s safe. Lorenzo’s attempted rape of Rebeca at the end of the novel ends in Soledad killing him.
- Bittersweet Ending: By the end of the book, Luca and Lydia successfully make it to the U.S., where they are living a difficult but normal life with Soledad and Rebeca. However, their grief and traumas still weigh heavily down upon them, and being in the U.S. does not render them safe from other threats like cartel violence or ICE.
- Break the Cutie: The sisters, Rebeca especially. On top of the already hazardous journey to the U.S., both sisters lose their father to an attack by Ivan, and are raped by migrant police. After Soledad kills Lorenzo for trying to rape Rebeca, both sisters share the same feeling of utter numbness.
- Chekhov's Skill: Prior to the story's beginning, Luca studied for a geography bee, and had an encyclopedic knowledge of countries, their populations, capitals, etc. that amazed many. When he and the others are captured by migrant police, this knowledge helps him prove that he and his mother are Mexican citizens to the commander that had just killed a man who claimed to be from Oaxaca but couldn't tell any information of it.
- Child by Rape: By her forced ex-boyfriend Ivan, Soledad is pregnant at the start of the book, but about halfway through, the trauma of being raped by migrant police leads to her miscarrying the baby.
- Death of a Child: Several of Lydia’s child family members, including her niece Yénifer on her quinceañera and eight-year-old nephew Adrián, are mercilessly slaughtered in the attack on Lydia’s family. It is only through quick thinking that she spares her own son, Luca, from the same fate, and it is fear for his life that keeps Lydia going on her journey to safety.
- The Dog Bites Back: After being repeatedly raped by her ex-boyfriend and his cronies, forced to flee her home, raped by migrant police, and said ex-boyfriend murdering her father, Soledad finally snaps when Lorenzo tries to rape Rebeca and kills him.
- Downer Beginning: The book opens right in the middle of Lydia’s family being slaughtered by Los Jardineros, as she and Luca hide in the bathroom.
- Determinator: The entire plot revolves around Lydia’s iron-strong determination to get her and Luca away from the danger of Los Jardineros and to the safety of the U.S. No matter what they encounter, she refuses to give up.
- Driven to Suicide: Lydia discovers halfway through the book that Marta, Javier’s teenage daughter, only discovered her father’s nature as a cartel kingpin when she read Sebastián’s article. Soon after she hung herself in her dormitory.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Javier is the kingpin of one of Mexico’s deadliest cartels, but he also loves his daughter Marta to death. Her suicide upon reading Sebastián’s article leads him to slaughtering his and Lydia’s family in revenge.
- Happily Married: Lydia and Sebastián remain are utterly besotted with one another, which only makes his murder at Javier’s hands all the more gutwrenching. By the end of the novel, her grief for her beloved husband has barely healed.
- Hypocrite: Lydia still has to be watchful for cartel members even in a church, knowing that some can mercilessly kill a child and then come to church to ask God for forgiveness on Sunday.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: While travelling La Bestia, Lydia encounters Lorenzo, a teenage sicario for Los Jardineros. Despite his crude and brash behavior, he promises Lydia that he’s left Los Jardineros behind, and is trying to make it to the U.S. to finally be rid of them—something she takes with a grain of salt. When she warns him that they’re closeby while hiding at the coyote’s place, she feels a tiny moment of solidarity with him in their fear…but then, after he tries to rape Rebeca towards the end of the book, she learns that it was all a lie and he was selling them out to Javier all along.
- Kill the Cutie: Just six miles from their destination, after their long and perilous journey, Beto, the plucky young boy who was immediately welcomed into the group, finally dies from his asthma. This death in particular shellshocks the surviving migrants, and stays with them even after they successfully make it.
- Mama Bear: Lydia’s core motivation for getting to the U.S. is to get her son Luca safely away from the violence of Los Jardineros. This protective instinct carries over to Soledad, Rebeca, and Beto.
- Precocious Crush: Eight-year-old Luca very quickly falls for the fourteen-year-old Rebeca. Naturally, nothing comes from it, but the two form a very strong friendship.
- Rape as Drama: Along with robbery, cartels, and all forms of violence, rape remains a constant threat to everyone, especially migrants—when talking to two other migrants at a sanctuary, they tell Lydia that it's practically a given for any woman on the journey to el notre. Soledad was forced into a relationship with a wannabe sicario, ultimately leading to her pregnancy. Soledad and Rebeca are both raped my migrant police when they are caught on La Bestia. Lorenzo reveals his true colors when he attempts to rape Rebeca in the third-to-last chapter, earning him a bullet to the skull by Soledad.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: In the penultimate chapter of the book, Lydia uses Lorenzo’s phone to finally confront Javier upon realizing he was using Lorenzo to track them the whole time. Javier tells her that he never intended to kill her or Luca, and again insists that their grief (for his daughter and her entire family) should be something that binds them. Lydia tears into him for his cheap attempt at comfort, telling him that losing Marta because of Sebastián’s article gave him no right to murder her entire family in turn. Javier is too overwhelmed to respond, and she leaves with the last word.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Rebeca and Soledad are both lovely, but Soledad especially is a stunning beauty, which causes her no shortage of trouble. Her looks caught the attention of a wannabe sicario, Ivan, and he forced her into a sexual, violent relationship. She and Rebeca are later both raped by migrant police, and Lorenzo has an eye for both of them, leading him to try and rape Rebeca again. Thankfully, this time he’s stopped by a bullet from Soledad.
- Stalker with a Crush: Javier is not in the slightest discouraged by the fact that Lydia is a married woman—or, for that matter, that he ordered the murder of her husband. In fact, he claims that the slaughter he orchestrated somehow “unites” them in their grief.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Luca amazes many with his maturity and knowledge for an eight-year-old, though a large part of it stems from the trauma of having his entire family, including his fathered, slaughtered.
- Would Hurt a Child: Just about every cartel in Mexico, including Los Jardineros, make it clear that they have no qualms of targeting children. Lydia’s niece and nephew are both killed in the slaughter at the party, and if she hadn’t hidden him, it’s incredibly likely Luca would have suffered the same fate.
