The Border Between Us by Rudy Ruiz

 

 

THE BORDER BETWEEN US

By Rudy Ruiz

 

Literary Fiction

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Pages: 256

Publication Date: August 27, 2024

SYNOPSIS

The Border Between Us is a poignant coming-of-age novel from one of the most exciting voices in fiction.

Ramón López was born along the US–Mexico border but is determined to get out and embrace the American dream—and he’s not sure whether his complicated family is a help or a hindrance. As the son of immigrants, as Ramón grows, his admiration for his entrepreneurial father sours as he watches his dad’s dreams of success wither on the vine. Ramón’s mother is constantly preoccupied with his younger brother, who struggles with intellectual disabilities. And the outside world is rife with danger and temptations threatening to distract Ramón from his dreams of making it to New York and succeeding as an artist.

As dreams clash with reality and values conflict with desires, Ramón finds the American dream within his reach—but will it demand too big a sacrifice?

Award-winning author Rudy Ruiz brilliantly captures the beauty and danger of border life as Ramón struggles to understand his home and his place in the world. The Border Between Us is a stunning, compassionate story about a son’s fraught relationship with his father, the challenges of pursuing a creative life when one comes from humble beginnings, and the power of embracing one's whole self.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rudy Ruiz is the author of The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez and Valley of Shadows. He is a winner of the Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Book of Fiction, the Gulf Coast Prize in Fiction, and multiple International Latino Book Awards. A bilingual native of the US–Mexico border, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Harvard University. Rudy lives and writes in Texas and New England with his wife and children. Visit his website at RudyRuiz.com.

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REVIEW

 When I picked up this short novel, set on the Texas-Mexican border, I thought the ‘border’ in the title was just that, the Rio Grande River. But there is more than one kind of border that separates people from one another.

Ramón López is a high school kid who lives with his grandmother in Texas. His parents, his hardworking mother and his father, with several failed businesses, live in Mexico. Ramon also has a younger brother who suffers from physical and intellectual disabilities. While in high school, he is befriended by a senior named Julia and her slacker boyfriend Reeser. His time with Julia opens a different world to him, a world powered by the drug trade.

After a tragic accident, Ramón focuses on his art and is awarded a scholarship to a prestigious NY college. He leaves the border for the city. There he meets another wealthy girl, Clara, whose opulent lifestyle is funded by her wealthy father. The stark differences in their lived experiences reveals a different sort of border. What should have been Ramón’s ticket to a new life instead robs him of what he holds most dear.

For Ramón, borders are not just geographic. There’s the border between the rich and the poor. The gulf between a father and the son who doesn’t understand him. There’s the border between what is right and what is wrong and what happens if you cross it.

I really enjoyed this story of life in Southernmost Texas. The close-knit family, divided by the river, by changing values and the choices they make. I thought the story was beautifully written with evocative descriptions the tightknit Hispanic community and the challenges of growing up torn between what you have and what you think you want.

I highly recommend this thoughtful book. 

 

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