Talia’s aunt Isabel, whose own mother was killed by M-19, struggles to come to terms with the past while clinging to the hope that Marina will one day return. The other members of the family are also put under extreme stress. As Talia makes the arduous journey, her brother, Emiliano, and her sister, Lili, slowly build an unconventional family in Colombia, finding solace in each other, a kindly abuelita, an aunt and uncle, and an ever-growing friend group.

Unbeknownst to Marina and desperate to reunite the family, Talia devises a plan to sneak her younger brother and sister through Mexico into the United States so they can all be together. The novel’s central figure is the eldest and most rebellious of the three siblings, fourteen-year-old Talia. As Marina strives to reunite her family, her children all struggle to adapt and create a sense of belonging to a country that is not their own. Now in the United States, she works as a janitor to send money and letters back to her children in Colombia. After taking part in a failed attempt to overthrow the country’s oppressive regime, she is forced to flee, leaving her three children behind. Marina, the matriarch and heart of the novel, is a former member of the Colombian guerrilla group M-19.

The novel follows Marina, the matriarch of the family, and her three children, all living in different places around the world. Infinite Country, Patricia Engel’s powerful, moving fifth novel, tells the story of a Colombian-American family torn apart by differences of religion, tradition, class, and geography.

Infinite country by patricia engel