Odyssey to the North (review)

After being blacklisted as an enemy of the government, a Salvadoran man decides to journey to the earthly equivalent of the celestial city: El Norte. Mario Bencastro allows his readers to glimpse this world of coyotes, guerra, and border crossings in a straightforward, flowing plot that involves love letters between revolucionarios, deportation proceedings, newspaper articles, and a dual narrative of Calixto’s journey north to Adams Morgan, a barrio in Washington, D.C., to avoid an untimely death at the hands of the Salvadoran government. As the novel begins, Calixto witnesses the gruesome death of a coworker, who plummets several stories to the ground when his rope breaks as he is washing windows. In a flashback we follow Calixto’s northward migration. Bencastro reminds us that for millions of Salvadorans, the journey to the United States means an equally dark passage through Mexico, where many are threatened with extermination or deportation if found out by immigration officers. The fees coyotes charge are astronomical by the migrants’ standards, and most “wetbacks” endure extreme mental anguish and countless natural threats, in addition to the human obstacles. This unsentimental, eye-opening novel should become required reading.