Dispossessed
Dispossessed, a riveting novel about Manuel, a young Mexican-American boy whose parents and sister disappear when he is four years old, is set amidst the backdrop of Depression-era Los Angeles. As the novel unfolds, Manuel sees his neighborhood destroyed by real estate speculators and his loved ones subjected to involuntary sterilization. Through it all, Manuel continues to search for his parents and sister while struggling, and often failing, to climb the ladder to American economic success. Manuel’s story is a common one: an estimated two million people of Mexican descent, many of them U.S. citizens, were forcibly repatriated in the 1930s, with another one million during Operation Wetback in the 1950s. Entire neighborhoods were targeted for demolition and “gentrification,” and thousands of Latinas were forcibly sterilized throughout much of the 20th century. Désirée Zamorano’s deftly-told story puts a face to this story, letting us see firsthand the impact of these practices.
This story is the most satisfying kind of historical fiction: it immerses us in a historical period and allows us to experience what people experienced or endured. Dispossessed is true to the history of the time, but it is no mere recitation of facts and figures. In Zamorano’s hands, we are all Manuel, trying to make sense of unimaginable losses while holding fast to those he loves and keeping his eyes on the future. Dispossessed is set in the past, but it is an important story for our time when demands for the deportation of noncitizens and unequal treatment of immigrants threaten to drive America’s national, state, and local discourse. This book makes a thoughtful and searching contribution to our understanding of what it means to be American, and what the nation owes to each of its residents, especially the most vulnerable.
