As we meet a range of characters from different backgrounds we are constantly shown that no one would take this journey unless they were desperate. Their beauty puts them in constant risk of rape and thus the writer exposes the often, unmentioned, crimes that immigrants trying to reach America endure. As Lydia and Luca travel, largely illegally on freight trains, they befriend two sisters who have had to flee. The context is set quickly and the remainder of the story explores the hardships and dangers of travelling as illegal immigrants. Fearing for their lives Lydia and her son Luca have to go 'on the run' to escape the horror and stay alive. Lydia has viewed Javier as gentle and smart, yet Javier is to blame for countless murders, including sixteen members of her own family. The stereotype of cartel leaders is challenged.

He is a frequent visitor to Lydia's bookstore and the two have become good friends. The twist comes in the fact that Javier is bookish. This has dramatic and tragic consequences. Her husband, Sebastian is a journalist about to expose a cartel leader, Javier Crespo.

Lydia, the protagonist, is a bookstore owner. Next we are given some of the context about why this particular family has been targeted. The opening is tense, frightening and focuses on the emotions of a young boy and his mum hiding in the shower and thus avoiding murder. American Dirt begins by describing a shoot out at a barbeque where a woman's entire family, other than her son, are murdered by a cartel.

American dirt novel