Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive has come out of the hat and will be our reading group choice for December.
The first English-language book written by the Mexican author, Lost Children Archive is inspired by the plight of the tired, poor and huddled masses of refugee children who have fled danger and persecution, only to find that themselves interned or turned away from the US. In other words, it’s about one of the most important stories of our times. It’s a cry for compassion and empathy and the ideal book to round off this turbulent, difficult decade.
But there’s more to it than politics. In the New York Times, the critic Parul Sehgal called Luiselli’s book a “mould breaking new classic”, saying: “The novel truly becomes novel again in her hands – electric, elastic, alluring, new. And the story of the migrant, she believes, insists upon a new form: How else to tell a story that has no end?” In the Guardian, Lucy Hughes-Hallett pointed out that it’s also a road-trip novel, referencing the Odyssey, The Children’s Crusade, Jack Kerouac and Cormac McCarthy. “Luiselli is an ambitious writer,” says Hughes-Hallett, discussing the novel’s multiple narrative viewpoints, virtuoso writing and cleverness. Happily, we are also told to expect warmth and humour. So while Lost Children Archive sounds like a serious work of literature, there should be plenty of scope for discussion and enjoyment.
It’s also worth noting that, in a first for the reading group, the book that has come out of the hat was nominated by a Guardian journalist, Richard Lea. It is going to be fun to put him on the spot and see how his choice measures up. More importantly, I’m also very keen to hear what you make of it. I hope you’ll join me.
Thanks to publisher 4th Estate, we have five copies to give to the first five people from the UK to post “I want a copy please”, along with a nice, constructive thought in the comments section below. If you’re lucky enough to be one of the first to comment, email the lovely folk on culture.admin@theguardian.com, with your address and your account username so they can track you down.
