The Faraway World by Patricia Engel

THE FARAWAY WORLD by Patricia Engel is a short story collection that will enthrall readers much like Engel’s earlier award-winning novel, Infinite Country, which itself is a must read. These stories tend to be rather quiet, almost intimate, and reflective. Engel changes voice, too, sometimes writing directly to another character, such as “Libélula” where an employee speaks silently to her employer, saying, “You wanted a ghost, a shadow to move about your home anticipating your every need. A double as loyal as an imaginary friend to accompany you…” I was also surprised by the ending of “Fausto” after he and his girlfriend, Paz, succumb to the temptation of what they believe will be easy money for running drugs. And, I especially liked “Aguacero” about two troubled Columbians who meet in New York and attempt to share life stories; it had previously been selected in 2019 for both The O. Henry Prize Stories and The Best American Short Stories. Containing ten tales in all, THE FARAWAY WORLD received a starred review from Kirkus.

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel

 INFINITE COUNTRY by Patricia Engel is one of my favorite books of the year so far and I believe the characters and action will also appeal to our students. Engel tells the story of Talia, a teenager who escapes from a rural correctional facility in Colombia in order to return to her father, Mauro, in Bogota. There, she hopes to board a plane and be reunited with her siblings and mother, Elena, who live in the United States. Talia, too, was born in the US, but her father was deported shortly afterwards and with three young children, her mother had little choice but to send Talia to be raised by her abuela. Engel shifts time and narrators to offer thought-provoking perspective on immigration (“… that’s the thing about being paperless. This country locks you in until it locks you out”) and on family relationships. At one point, Elena muses, “She blamed herself for displacing her own children, especially her girls. Karina and Talia, binational, each born in one country and raised in another like repotted flowers, creatures forced to live in the wrong habitat.” The writing is superb and INFINITE COUNTRY received starred reviews from Bookist, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly (“sharp, unflinching narrative teems with insight”).