‘The Book of Unknown Americans’: Novel is a story for all Americans

Most novels tell the story of one person, or, in some cases, one family. In 'The Book of Unknown Americans,” author and Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate Cristina Henríquez goes much further, telling the story of two families, a neighborhood, and an entire immigrant population. The result is a moving tale about the power of community and the determination of the human spirit.

The novel is about many things - immigration, first love, identity - but at its core The Book of Unknown American is about the Rivera family, who leave a comfortable life in Mexico to seek care for the brain-damaged daughter in the United States. They soon befriend the Toro family from Panama, who live across the street, as well as a number of other immigrant families.

Told in chapters alternating in perspective from Alma, the matriarch of the Rivera family, and Mayor, the youngest son of the Toro family, readers are privy to the quiet struggles of each family as they work to find their ways in a new country. 'We had bundled up our old life and left it behind, and then hurtled into a new one with only a few of our things, each other, and hope. Would that be enough? We'll be fine, I told myself. We'll be fine. I repeated it like a prayer.”

Henríquez is a fine writer, unafraid to take the structural risks needed to tell such an ambitious tale. Interspersed throughout the book are short chapters - monologues, really - from other neighbors telling their stories of immigration. Henríquez times the placement of these interludes beautifully, giving readers a more nuanced perspective on the kaleidoscopic immigrant experience.

She's also not afraid of moving at her own pace, expertly weaving a number of smaller struggles together to build to a sudden, catastrophic ending.

Heartfelt and imaginative, 'The Book of Unknown Americans” is a story for all Americans - no matter where we come from.