California is one of the most diverse states in the country, and it’s readily apparent when you walk out the door in one of the state’s most diverse cities: Los Angeles. Here, multiculturalism is more the reality of interpersonal relationships than an ideology. This can either lead to harmony or yield to ethnic tension and xenophobia. Los Angeles, with its proximity to the Mexican border, is a locus for many concerns around undocumented workers, as we see in Héctor Tobar’s nuanced and superb social novel The Barbarian Nurseries. The novel centers the story of Araceli, an undocumented Mexican live-in maid who is also an artist. Both observant and judgmental, she finds herself caring for two biracial suburban boys after their wealthy parents, the Torres-Thompsons, fire the nanny when their financial situation becomes challenging.
This article appears in Issue 31 of Alta Journal.
SUBSCRIBE
The novel segues into a memorable, roving perspective when the boys are accidentally abandoned by their parents; we slip into the minds of several Angelenos with whom Araceli and the parents come into contact before a media circus over the boys’ whereabouts ensues. These are friends of the Torres-Thompsons, bloggers, journalists, police officers, lawyers, and other undocumented people. Ancient Greeks used the term barbarians to describe people they considered uncivilized or violent. But Tobar turns this meaning on its head, asking, Who are the real barbarians? Woven as a lively tapestry of life in the Golden State, Tobar’s novel is a marvel of intelligent complexity.•
Anita Felicelli is Alta Journal ’s books editor and the author of How We Know Our Time Travelers, Chimerica, and Love Songs for a Lost Continent.
