Blog: 2021-02-27 - American Dirt
Summary
Lydia Pérez, a bookstore owner in Acapulco, sees her comfortable middle-class life shattered when a drug cartel murders sixteen members of her family in retaliation for her husband’s journalistic exposé on the cartel boss, Javier Fuentes. Lydia and her eight-year-old son, Luca, are the sole survivors. They are forced to abandon their home and embark on a perilous, clandestine journey toward the US, constantly fearing discovery by the cartel.
Along the way, they join the ranks of countless other migrants, traveling north by bus and famously hopping rides on “La Bestia,” a dangerous freight train system. Throughout the journey, Lydia and Luca rely on the kindness of strangers and their own resilience, ultimately seeking safety and the chance to build a new life in the U.S.