10 February 2020
As a Latina author of political romantic suspense, I have been fascinated by the unfolding controversy around the novel American Dirt, the story of a mother and son who flee to the US, escaping Mexican drug cartel violence. The book has come under fire because the author-who is neither Mexican nor an immigrant-received a seven-figure deal for a story that has been called "immigrant trauma porn." There has been a proliferation of essays about race and representation, as well as the lack of racial equity in the publishing industry. There are also wide implications for this book in the ongoing feud between literary and genre fiction.
