the tortilla curtain, t.c. boyle. arroyo blanco community

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In detail

In The Tortilla Curtain T. Coraghessan Boyle tackles an issue which haunts much of the Western world: illegal immigration. Alternating between two couples, one white American, the other Mexican, the novel explores both sides of this difficult question, confronting racism, fear and the moral dilemma of the liberal conscience.

Delaney Mossbacher lives on the Arroyo Blanco estate with his wife, Kyra, and her son, Jordan. Delaney is a naturalist working from home and caring for Jordan. Kyra is a real-estate agent, driven by her work, always promising herself more time with her family. Delaney prides himself on his liberalism but when he injures Cándido, an illegal Mexican immigrant on his way back to his pregnant wife at their makeshift camp, the incident triggers a fearful anger in him.

Despite Delaney’s reluctance, Arroyo Blanco becomes a gated community. Although happy to use the Mexicans as cheap labour, most of the residents fear them and want them excluded. When a coyote seizes one of Kyra’s dogs, there is further reason to shut out the world. First a fence is erected, followed by a wall when the coyotes continue to invade.

Meanwhile Cándido and América try desperately to raise a deposit for somewhere to live. Already robbed and beaten while crossing the boarder, they face a seemingly endless round of setbacks. Their one piece of good luck, a free Thanksgiving turkey, becomes a disaster when the fire Cándido lights to cook it results in an inferno. Forced to seek shelter when her waters break, América gives birth in a shed.

Since the accident, Delaney’s anger has smouldered, fanned by his and Kyra’s encounters with two Mexicans apparently up to no good on the estate. His liberal conscience has been sorely tried and when he sees Cándido again he begins a pursuit that ends in tragedy but with a hand outstretched in help.

About the author

Born in 1948, T. Coraghessan Boyle grew up in the Manhattan suburb of Peekshill. He graduated from the State University of New York and received his doctorate in nineteenth-century literature from Iowa University in 1977. Since 1978 he has taught creative writing at the University of Southern California. He lives in Santa Barbara, California in a house designed by the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. While in college, he changed his middle name from the more commonplace John to Coraghessan, the name of one of his Irish ancestors.