Lost Children Archive: Winner OF THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2021

WINNER OF THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD AND THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE AND THE WOMEN’S PRIZEThe moving powerful and urgent English-language debut from one of the brightest young stars in world literatureSuppose you and Pa were gone and we were lost. What would happen then?A family in New York packs the car and sets out on a road trip. A mother a father a boy and a girl they head south west to the Apacheria the regions of the US which used to be Mexico. They drive for hours through desert and mountains. They stop at diners when they’re hungry and sleep in motels when it gets dark. The little girl tells surreal knock knock jokes and makes them all laugh. The little boy educates them all and corrects them when they’re wrong. The mother and the father are barely speaking to each other.Meanwhile thousands of children are journeying north travelling to the US border from Central America and Mexico. A grandmother or aunt has packed a backpack for them putting in a bible one toy some clean underwear. They have been met by a coyote: a man who speaks to them roughly and frightens them. They cross a river on rubber tubing and walk for days saving whatever food and water they can. Then they climb to the top of a train and travel precariously in the open container on top. Not all of them will make it to the border.In a breath-taking feat of literary virtuosity Lost Children Archive intertwines these two journeys to create a masterful novel full of echoes and reflections - a moving powerful urgent story about what it is to be human in an inhuman world.In Lost Children Archive Valeria Luiselli weaves a powerful narrative that explores the American life the complexities of marriage and divorce and the political landscape. It's a compelling piece of fiction that offers a deep insight into the Hispanic and native communities.For fans of Deborah Levy (August Blue) Sheila Heti (Motherhood) Tennessee Williams (The Roman Spring Of Mrs Stone) Barbara Kingsolver (Demon Copperhead) and Georgi Gospodinov (Time Shelter).