American Dirt (Hardback)
  • American Dirt (Hardback)
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American Dirt (Hardback)

(author)
£16.99
Hardback 480 Pages
Published: 21/01/2020
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Waterstones Says

An incendiary novel of desperate love and pulse-quickening danger, American Dirt confronts the lawless frontier of the US-Mexico border in a narrative that has been rapturously received on the other side of the Atlantic. With whip-smart pacing and an astounding ability to make the seemingly incredible both authentic and intimate, this is an enthralling page turner of the highest literary quality and contains an immersive essay on the story’s genesis and Cummins’s fascinating writing process.   

American Dirt is the first novel to explore the experience of attempting to illegally cross the US-Mexico border, a journey which thousands of migrants make each year.

Yesterday, Lydia had a bookshop.
Yesterday, Lydia was married to a journalist.
Yesterday, she was with everyone she loved most in the world.

Today, her eight-year-old son Luca is all she has left.

For him, she will carry a machete strapped to her leg.
For him, she will leap onto the roof of a high speed train.
For him, she will find the strength to keep running.

Vivid, visceral, utterly compelling, American Dirt is both a page turner and a literary achievement: a novel that will leave you utterly changed.

Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
ISBN: 9781472261397
Number of pages: 480
Weight: 720 g
Dimensions: 236 x 164 x 44 mm


MEDIA REVIEWS

'... amid all the horror are moments of hope, friendship, kindness and love. An absolutely unforgettable read.' - The Daily Mail

'Amazing.' - The Express

'Cummins humanises the migrant crisis, delivering a powerful portrayl of the extraordinary lengths people will go to in order to save their loved ones...it is hard to imagine that there will be a more urgent or politically relevant novel this year.' - The Observer

'One hell of a novel about a good woman on the run with her beautiful boy... I defy anyone to read the first seven pages of this book and not finish it.' - Stephen King

'It's been a long time since I turned pages as fast as I did with American Dirt. Its journey is a testament to the power of fear and hope and belief that there are more good people than bad.' - John Grisham

'Tough, powerful... American Dirt made me understand better why someone would give up the home they know and love to survive, and the grit required to cross that border.' - Tracy Chevalier

'From its heart-stopping first sentence to its heart-shattering last, Cummins' story of immigrants is just what we need now.' - Don Winslow

'American Dirt transported me through genuine fear and had me willing on every human being struggling to get to a better life. Written with masterly restraint, it is a roaring human triumph.' - Laline Paull

'From the opening page your heart will be in your mouth You will never want to put this story down, Jeanine Cummins has written a novel of such moment, such danger and such compassion, it will change your view of the world.' - Kirsty Wark

'At once intimate and epic, American Dirt is an exhilarating and beautiful book about parental love and human hope.' - Rumaan Alam

'So viscerally real and so elegantly written. From the very first page, you know it's just essential reading.' - Kate Leaver

'Will punch you in the gut one minute and fill you with hope the next.' - Shelf Awareness 

'Urgent and unforgettable, American Dirt leaps the borders of the page and demands attention, especially now.' - Sarah Blake

'Riveting, timely, a dazzling accomplishment. Jeanine Cummins makes us all live and breathe the refugee story. If a book can change hearts and transform policies, this is the one.' - Julia Alvarez

'This book is not simply the great American novel; it's the great novel of las Americas. It's the great world novel! This is the international story of our times. Masterful.' - Sandra Cisneros

'Jeanine Cummins writes with such grace, compassion, and precision that I could not stop reading.' - Erika Sanchez

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Emma Smith at Bedford

“WOW!”

‘American Dirt’ without a shadow of a doubt, blew me away. It made me angry, it made me cry and it made me smile. And it made me feel incredibly lucky that I live somewhere safe and I can raise my child within that... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 88

“Love, Loss & Migration”

Lydia's entire family are murdered on the order of her one-time friend, Javier - a cultured, well mannered man and emergent Jefe of the Los Jardineros cartel. She and her son Luca survive with just enough time... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 77

“Mega”

This book has the most compelling first line, scene and chapter I’ve read in a very long time. It felt like a slap around the face that said “THIS is why you read”. I’m not spoiling anything by saying it begins with a... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 75

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