“What was it about this country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy?” Elena wonders. Elena, less enthusiastic about the move, often longs to return home. When Mauro and Elena have their first daughter, Karina, they decide to leave the violence and low-paying jobs of Bogatá and apply for tourist visas to the United States. The American dream exerts a magnetic pull in this novel. While Talia makes her getaway, Engel unwinds her family’s story and depicts in distilled, propulsive prose how they ended up scattered across nations. Talia is an American citizen, and the promise of her status lures her to take brash risks as she breaks out of prison, journeys through the hills and hitchhikes south.
Talia’s father Mauro, who was deported from the United States and raised Talia in Bogotá, is complicit. Talia hasn’t seen her mother or older siblings since and hasn’t disclosed her crime to them. Because she lacked child care, Elena had sent Talia to Colombia as a baby. Although Talia will soon complete her sentence, she is determined to fly to the United States in one week on a ticket her mother Elena had purchased. “The nuns were always scavenging for remorse,” Talia thinks. At this state facility, “the lay staff reminded the sisters to aim for secularity, but on those missioned mountains, the nuns ran things as they pleased.” The nuns believe Talia’s “desire for justice” provoked her crime, and they consider her reformable.
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