American Dirt author, Jeanine Cummins, returns with a magnificent tale of family, love and loyalty
Author
:
Jeanine Cummins
ISBN-13
:
9781472288806
Publisher
:
Tinder Press
Guideline Price
:
£20
The once venerable industry of publishing has not covered itself in glory in recent years with many writers finding their reputations tarnished or careers destroyed by activists who place ideology over art.
Jeanine Cummins was one of the most high-profile victims of these witch-hunts when her novel,
American Dirt
,
was published in 2020. Following the journey of a Mexican woman fleeing to the United States in fear of her life, the book was initially lauded before questions were raised about its authenticity.
In one of the worst examples of literary bullying I've ever witnessed, 142 writers signed a letter to
Oprah Winfrey
demanding its removal from her book club, while making it fawningly clear they did not blame the host and still held her in the highest possible regard.
A weaker person might not have survived such a public mauling, but Cummins is clearly made of strong stuff and returns in triumph with her fourth novel, Speak to Me of Home, whose central character's name – Rafaela Acuña y Daubón – will doubtless infuriate the scolds.
READ MORE
Set across three generations of a Puerto Rican family, the novel opens with a storm that leads to 22-year-old Daisy being knocked off her bicycle and landing in hospital in a coma. From here, we explore the two maternal figures that preceded her: her mother Ruth and her grandmother Rafaela.
[
American Dirt author Jeanine Cummins' book tour cancelled after threats
Opens in new window
]
Much of the novel is constructed around women either leaving, missing or returning to Puerto Rico. Rafaela is the first to be exiled, when a financial scandal leaves her family no longer able to afford their privileged lifestyle.
At home she had fallen for their maid's son, Candido, but in her new life she chooses a clean-cut Irish-American, leading to a marriage with its share of troubles, not least because of an unforgivable act this otherwise decent man commits at a country club. Mirroring this, Ruth, their eldest daughter, eventually finds herself also choosing between two suitors and wondering whether she made the right choice.
As the second generation is mixed-race, there's a constant sense of being outsiders. Rafaela experiences racism when she arrives in the US because she's not white enough while, ironically, 20 years later, Ruth is effectively rejected from a Puerto Rican society in college because she's too white. Racial purity, it seems, matters to everyone, no matter which side of the divide you're on.
This is a novel rich with story and family history. A genealogy map at the start is unnecessary as Cummins creates such singular identities that one never forgets who's who. Added to that is her skill at character development. Rafaela is likeable when she's young, becomes a virago in adulthood, and is a total hoot in old age, playing video games, going on dates and making inappropriate remarks.
She's a deliberate antecedent to her grandson Carlos, the sort of gay teen who listens to the conversation around him but remains silent, before offering a hilarious remark that reduces everyone to laughter.
[
American Dirt author Jeanine Cummins: 'I felt like the entire world was against me but I knew I would emerge'
Opens in new window
]
Loyalty and love are important throughout. Family members might snap or argue, but there's no doubting they would throw themselves in front of a train for each other, even those from whom they've long been divorced, which is why the storm that prevents them from immediately gathering by Daisy's bedside is so hard for them to bear.
There's a line at the end of Stephen Frears' movie The Queen, where Elizabeth II, still bristling from her treatment during that fateful week in 1997, tells her prime minister: 'You saw all those headlines and you thought, one day this might happen to me. And it will, Mr Blair. Quite suddenly and without warning.' He stares at her in utter disbelief, convinced a person as virtuous as he could never meet such a fate.
And look how that turned out.
Should the 142 people who signed that reprehensible letter to Oprah read this novel, they might recognise Cummins's skill and empathy, and reflect upon the late queen's imagined words when they next fire arrows in the direction of a fellow writer. After all, if their moment of literary opprobrium ever comes – and it will, quite suddenly and without warning – they might hope their peers would rise to their defence instead of seeing a colleague's distress as an opportunity to express their moral superiority.
I don't know whether Cummins is from Puerto Rico, has ever visited Puerto Rico, or could even pick out Puerto Rico on a map. Nor do I care. She's a novelist, a job that involves using one's imagination to invent lives different from one's own, and making the reader believe in and care about them. She achieves that goal magnificently here.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Tony Blair was happy to keep guitar from Bono but not one from Mexico's president
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair was delighted to keep a guitar presented to him by the rock star Bono . However, when it came to a similar gift from the president of Mexico , he was less enthused. Official files released to the UK National Archives show Mr Blair was keen to take advantage of rules on ministerial gifts to buy the instrument given to him by the U2 singer once he left office. He did, however, question whether he would have to pay 'the full purchase price'. Officials at 10 Downing Street suggested the prime minister – who fronted a rock band called Ugly Rumours in his student days – might want to take the same approach when it came to a white Fender Stratocaster, valued at £2,500, from the Canadian singer Bryan Adams . However, Mr Blair was much less enthusiastic about an acoustic Vargas guitar presented to him by president Vicente Fox during an official visit to Mexico in 2001, noting: 'I don't actually use it.' The files also show that Mr Blair rejected advice that he should not keep a Pro Braided tennis racket given to him by the manufacturer, Slazenger. Officials feared that it was part of a 'marketing ploy' by the company and suggested it should be donated to a children's charity as 'you cannot be seen to endorse any product'. Mr Blair, however, instructed them just to thank the company, adding: 'It is very churlish to refuse to use it.' - PA


Irish Times
4 days ago
- Irish Times
You'll Be Alright, Kid by Alex Warren: expressive, exhaustive, angsty man-croon
You'll Be Alright, Kid Artist : Alex Warren Label : Atlantic Alex Warren feels like the culmination of several trends in music. The 24-year-old Californian – best known for his blockbusting power ballad Ordinary – sings in a husky, over-emoted folk-pop style de rigueur among male singers who wish to communicate authenticity while also moving units by the freight-load – think Noah Kahan or Rag'n'Bone Man . These artists have conjured a specific modus of plaid-shirt corporate pop – the backwoods as the main stage, the campfire as the spotlight, sincerity as commodity. Yet for all these commercial trappings Warren's life has been marked with real tragedy. His father died of cancer when Warren was nine, while his mother was an abusive alcoholic who threw her son out of the house when he was 18 before she passed away four years ago. That's a lot of heartache, and he channels it effectively across a sprawling double album marked by a pain that glimmers through the playlist-friendly production. The other component of Warren's success is that he gained internet fame before achieving significant musical success. By the time his mother showed him the door, he had already built an online following courtesy of prank videos with titles such as 'Well that was embarrassing', which saw him amass two million YouTube subscribers. It also primed him for a new level of celebrity when TikTok came along. He duly achieved it when co-founding content creators' collective, Hype-House (with other members including soon-to-be-huge Addison Rae) – which, in turn, spawned a Netflix spin-off. A background like that suggests an artist hungry for overnight fame and willing to do anything to get in. But You'll Be Alright, Kid defies his billing as a TikTok urchin who has blagged his way into a music career. Heavy with angst, burnished with melodrama and propelled by a Hozier/Noah Kahan/Rag'n'Bone man-croon, it's expressive and exhaustive – a blizzard of woe that now and then cuts through the sheen and communicates genuine spiritual turmoil. READ MORE If there's a weakness, it's that the songs often feel like a singular idea revisited from different angles. Warren's vocals stay in the same register, and the tracks all take a more-or-less identical trajectory, where the angst builds and builds and then a dam bursts. In terms of lyrics, he wears his heart on his cuffs, with a storyteller's flair for melodrama and a hint of religious fervour (he is a practising Catholic, and his fan base is fixated by the degree to which his faith informs his writing). The Outside tells the tale of a young person seeking fame only to discover that it is a fruitless chase that leaves you hollowed out inside. 'She moved away when she turned eighteen/In search of home, didn't know what that means,' he sings. 'She thought she'd find it somewhere on the big screen ... Hollywood wasn't all that she thought.' His talent for big moments is showcased throughout the 21-track LP. Typical of that strategy is On My Mind, a Coldplay-esque ballad with backing vocals from Blackpink's Rosé (fresh from her internet slaying get-together with Bruno Mars, APT). [ New Irish albums reviewed: Sons of Southern Ulster, Poor Creature, Darragh Morgan, The Swell Season and California Irish Opens in new window ] There are occasional tweaks to the formula. Bloodline – a collaboration with country rapper Jelly Roll – has the stomping energy of a 16-wheeler with an overheated carburetor. Elsewhere, Troubled Waters lands like a barn dance restaged for the Grammys, while Chasing Shadows is sprinkled with minimal guitar. Warren's mentors have included Ed Sheeran , who has guested with him on live performances of the inescapable Ordinary. However, if he lacks something, it is Sheeran's everyman pop chops. You'll Be Alright, Kid is an agreeably portentous album. But it cries out for a lightness of touch – a sprinkling of pop stardust amid the bombast. It marks Warren as quite the paradox. Behold, the TikTok star who needs to learn how to play to the gallery.

Irish Times
4 days ago
- Irish Times
American Dirt author, Jeanine Cummins, returns with a magnificent tale of family, love and loyalty
Speak to Me of Home Author : Jeanine Cummins ISBN-13 : 9781472288806 Publisher : Tinder Press Guideline Price : £20 The once venerable industry of publishing has not covered itself in glory in recent years with many writers finding their reputations tarnished or careers destroyed by activists who place ideology over art. Jeanine Cummins was one of the most high-profile victims of these witch-hunts when her novel, American Dirt , was published in 2020. Following the journey of a Mexican woman fleeing to the United States in fear of her life, the book was initially lauded before questions were raised about its authenticity. In one of the worst examples of literary bullying I've ever witnessed, 142 writers signed a letter to Oprah Winfrey demanding its removal from her book club, while making it fawningly clear they did not blame the host and still held her in the highest possible regard. A weaker person might not have survived such a public mauling, but Cummins is clearly made of strong stuff and returns in triumph with her fourth novel, Speak to Me of Home, whose central character's name – Rafaela Acuña y Daubón – will doubtless infuriate the scolds. READ MORE Set across three generations of a Puerto Rican family, the novel opens with a storm that leads to 22-year-old Daisy being knocked off her bicycle and landing in hospital in a coma. From here, we explore the two maternal figures that preceded her: her mother Ruth and her grandmother Rafaela. [ American Dirt author Jeanine Cummins' book tour cancelled after threats Opens in new window ] Much of the novel is constructed around women either leaving, missing or returning to Puerto Rico. Rafaela is the first to be exiled, when a financial scandal leaves her family no longer able to afford their privileged lifestyle. At home she had fallen for their maid's son, Candido, but in her new life she chooses a clean-cut Irish-American, leading to a marriage with its share of troubles, not least because of an unforgivable act this otherwise decent man commits at a country club. Mirroring this, Ruth, their eldest daughter, eventually finds herself also choosing between two suitors and wondering whether she made the right choice. As the second generation is mixed-race, there's a constant sense of being outsiders. Rafaela experiences racism when she arrives in the US because she's not white enough while, ironically, 20 years later, Ruth is effectively rejected from a Puerto Rican society in college because she's too white. Racial purity, it seems, matters to everyone, no matter which side of the divide you're on. This is a novel rich with story and family history. A genealogy map at the start is unnecessary as Cummins creates such singular identities that one never forgets who's who. Added to that is her skill at character development. Rafaela is likeable when she's young, becomes a virago in adulthood, and is a total hoot in old age, playing video games, going on dates and making inappropriate remarks. She's a deliberate antecedent to her grandson Carlos, the sort of gay teen who listens to the conversation around him but remains silent, before offering a hilarious remark that reduces everyone to laughter. [ American Dirt author Jeanine Cummins: 'I felt like the entire world was against me but I knew I would emerge' Opens in new window ] Loyalty and love are important throughout. Family members might snap or argue, but there's no doubting they would throw themselves in front of a train for each other, even those from whom they've long been divorced, which is why the storm that prevents them from immediately gathering by Daisy's bedside is so hard for them to bear. There's a line at the end of Stephen Frears' movie The Queen, where Elizabeth II, still bristling from her treatment during that fateful week in 1997, tells her prime minister: 'You saw all those headlines and you thought, one day this might happen to me. And it will, Mr Blair. Quite suddenly and without warning.' He stares at her in utter disbelief, convinced a person as virtuous as he could never meet such a fate. And look how that turned out. Should the 142 people who signed that reprehensible letter to Oprah read this novel, they might recognise Cummins's skill and empathy, and reflect upon the late queen's imagined words when they next fire arrows in the direction of a fellow writer. After all, if their moment of literary opprobrium ever comes – and it will, quite suddenly and without warning – they might hope their peers would rise to their defence instead of seeing a colleague's distress as an opportunity to express their moral superiority. I don't know whether Cummins is from Puerto Rico, has ever visited Puerto Rico, or could even pick out Puerto Rico on a map. Nor do I care. She's a novelist, a job that involves using one's imagination to invent lives different from one's own, and making the reader believe in and care about them. She achieves that goal magnificently here.