Lost Children Archive

Lost Children Archive is a 2019 novel by writer Valeria Luiselli. Luiselli was in part inspired by the ongoing American policy of separating children from their parents at the Mexican-American border.[3] The novel is the first book Luiselli wrote in English.[3]

Lost Children Archive
First edition cover
AuthorValeria Luiselli
Audio read byValeria Luiselli[1]
Kivlighan de Montebello[1]
William DeMeritt[1]
Maia Enrigue Luiselli[1]
Cover artistValeria Luiselli (photos; courtesy of)[2]
Jenny Carrow (design)[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Set inNew York, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona
PublisherAlfred A. Knopf
Publication date
February 12, 2019
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback) and e-book
Pages400 pp
ISBN978-0-525-52061-0
863/.7
LC ClassPQ7298.422.U37 L67 2019

The novel won the 2020 Rathbones Folio Prize.[4] It was also longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize[5] and the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction.[6]

The novel details a cross-country journey from New York to Arizona in a car by a husband and wife, Mama and Papa, and their children, "the girl" and "the boy," both from previous relationships.[7][8] The novel incorporates fragments from the poetry of other poets, including from poems by Anne Carson, Galway Kinnell, and Augusto Monterroso.[2] The novel's climax, "Echo Canyon", consists of a single sentence that runs for 20 pages.[9][10] The novel ends with 24 Polaroid photos provided by Luiselli, credited to the novel's fictional stepson.[11]

Summary

An unnamed Mexican born documentarian lives in New York City with her husband and their two children, his son from a previous relationship and her daughter from a previous relationship.

The couple meet while recording a project on languages though she is a journalist and he works in acoustemology. They live together for several years, however the husband tells the woman that he has decided to record a project on the Apache that will take him to Arizona. The woman does not want to go, but realizes her husband is willing to leave her behind. Reluctantly, to slow the breaking of her marriage, she decides that she and the children will go with him to Arizona after which she and the girl, her biological child, will do research on her friend Manuela's daughters, two children who crossed the border seeking asylum and who have since gone missing in federal custody.

As they travel across the U.S. the father tells the children tales of the Apache and Geronimo, while the mother tells them of "Lost Children", Latin American migrants who travel across the border seeking refuge in the U.S. Both children begin to grow obsessed by these stories and combine them in their heads. The boy eventually believes that if he and the girl lose themselves they will be able to find Manuela's children and their parents, who will go searching for them, will be able to retrieve all four of them. The boy decides to leave with the girl, leaving behind a map for his parents to discover telling them they will reunite at Echo Canyon.

The boy and girl run off together, the girl unaware of what they are doing. While making the journey to Echo Canyon the boy reads a book his mother had been reading, Elegies for Lost Children. Eventually the characters in the book Elegies for Lost Children and the Boy and Girl merge; they meet in the desert where one of the Lost Children mocks the boy for believing he can find Manuela's daughters. The following morning the boy realizes the girl has given away all their supplies to the other children as they are close to being rescued. Miraculously they are, as they are near Echo Canyon.

After their scare the parents try their best to stay united as a family. However the Woman receives a call that Manuela's daughters were found deceased in the desert. The grief breaks the family apart and the mother and the girl depart.

Reception

According to literary review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received overwhelmingly positive reviews.[12]

The book was named one of the top ten books of 2019 by the New York Times Book Review.[13] It is a finalist for the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.[14]

Translation

The novel was translated into Spanish by Luiselli and Daniel Saldaña París with the title Desierto sonoro. It was released in e-book format by Vintage Español, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday, in September 2019 and in paperback format in October 2019.[15]

References
  1. "Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli". Penguin Random House Audio. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  2. Sehgal, Parul (11 February 2019). "Valeria Luiselli's Latest Novel Is a Mold-Breaking New Classic". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  3. Flood, Alison (March 23, 2020). "Valeria Luiselli wins £30,000 Rathbones Folio prize for third novel". The Guardian. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  4. Jordan, Justine (July 24, 2019). "The Booker prize 2019 longlist's biggest surprise? There aren't many". The Guardian. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  5. Cain, Sian (March 3, 2019). "Non-binary trans author nominated for Women's prize for fiction". The Guardian. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  6. McAlpin, Heller (12 February 2019). "Real Life Informs A Tense Trip In 'Lost Children Archive'". NPR. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  7. Feathers, Lori (16 February 2019). "The Sounds of Exile: On Valeria Luiselli's "Lost Children Archive"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  8. Whitton, Steven (March 24, 2019). "Book review: In 'Lost Children Archive,' a family road trip collides with an immigration crisis". Associated Press. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  9. Corrigan, Maureen (February 27, 2019). "A New Novel Reminds Readers, These 'Lost Children' Belong To Us All". NPR. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  10. Millares Young, Kristen (February 12, 2019). "An author delivers a powerful plea for migrant children". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  11. "Lost Children Archive". Book Marks. Literary Hub. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  12. "The 10 Best Books of 2019". The New York Times. November 22, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  13. https://www.bookcritics.org/2020/01/11/announcing-the-finalists-for-the-2019-nbcc-awards/
  14. "Desierto Sonoro by Valeria Luiselli". Penguin Random House. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
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