''Lost Children Archive'' is a 2019 novel by writer Valeria Luiselli. Luiselli was in part inspired by the ongoing American policy of separating children from their parents at the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

. The novel is the first book Luiselli wrote in English. The novel details a cross-country journey from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in a car by a husband and wife, Mama and Papa, and their children, "the girl" and "the boy," both from previous relationships. The novel incorporates fragments from the poetry of other poets, including from poems by

Anne Carson Anne Patricia Carson (born June 21, 1950) is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor. Trained at the University of Toronto, Carson has taught classics, comparative literature, and creative writing at universities across ...

Galway Kinnell Galway Mills Kinnell (February 1, 1927 – October 28, 2014) was an American poet. His dark poetry emphasized scenes and experiences in threatening, ego-less natural environments. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1982 collection, ''Se ...

, and

Augusto Monterroso Augusto Monterroso Bonilla (December 21, 1921 – February 8, 2003) was a Honduran writer who adopted Guatemalan nationality, known for the ironical and humorous style of his short stories. He is considered an important figure in the Latin Amer ...

. The novel's climax, "Echo Canyon", consists of a single sentence that runs for 20 pages. The novel ends with 24 Polaroid photos provided by Luiselli, credited to the novel's fictional stepson. The novel won the 2020

Rathbones Folio Prize The Writers' Prize, previously known as the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher Folio Society, The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2 ...

and the 2021

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

. It was also longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize and the 2019

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

Summary

An unnamed documentarian lives in New York City with her husband and their two children, his son and her daughter both from previous relationships. The couple meet while recording a project on languages though she is a journalist and he works in acoustemology. They live together for several years, however the husband tells the woman that he has decided to record a project on the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

that will take him to

. The woman does not want to go, but realizes her husband is willing to leave her behind. Reluctantly, to slow the breaking of her marriage, she decides that she and the children will go with him to

after which she and the girl, her biological child, will do research on her friend Manuela's daughters, two children who crossed the border seeking asylum and who have since gone missing in federal custody. As they travel across the U.S. the father tells the children tales of the Apache and

Geronimo Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...

, while the mother tells them of "Lost Children", Latin American migrants who travel across the border seeking refuge in the U.S. Both children begin to grow obsessed by these stories and combine them in their heads. The boy eventually believes that if he and the girl lose themselves they will be able to find Manuela's children and their parents, who will go searching for them, will be able to retrieve all four of them. The boy decides to leave with the girl, leaving behind a map for his parents to discover telling them they will reunite at Echo Canyon. The boy and girl run off together, the girl unaware of what they are doing. While making the journey to Echo Canyon the boy reads a book his mother had been reading, ''Elegies for Lost Children''. Eventually the characters of ''Elegies for Lost Children'' and the Boy and Girl merge; they meet in the desert where one of the Lost Children mocks the boy for believing he can find Manuela's daughters. The following morning the boy realizes the girl has given away all their supplies to the other children as they are close to being rescued. Miraculously they are, as they are near Echo Canyon. After their scare the parents try their best to stay united as a family. However the Woman receives a call that Manuela's daughters were found deceased in the desert. The grief breaks the family apart and the mother and the girl depart.

Translation

The novel was translated into Spanish by Luiselli and Daniel Saldaña París with the title ''Desierto sonoro''. It was released in e-book format by Vintage Español, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday, in September 2019 and in paperback format in October 2019.

Awards and nominations

The book was named one of the top ten books of 2019 by ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

''. It was a finalist for the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.

In Media

In the second season of ''

The White Lotus ''The White Lotus'' is an American Black comedy, black comedy drama Anthology series, anthology television series created by Mike White (filmmaker), Mike White for HBO that premiered on July 11, 2021. The series follows the exploits of the gues ...

'', the character of Harper Spiller (played by

Aubrey Plaza Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began performing Improvisational theatre, improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. After graduating from New York University ...

) reads ''Lost Children Archive''.

References

{{Reflist 2019 American novels Alfred A. Knopf books Novels about immigration to the United States Travel novels Fiction set in 2014 Novels set in the 2010s Novels set in New York City Novels set in New York (state) Novels set in Virginia Novels set in North Carolina Novels set in Tennessee Novels set in Memphis, Tennessee Novels set in Arkansas Novels set in Oklahoma Novels set in Texas Novels set in New Mexico Novels set in Arizona