Mainieri’s debut novel is a story of young love surviving post-Katrina New Orleans and cartel-infested northeastern Mexico.
Nicholas Mainieri
Novel | 387 Pages | 5.3” x 8”| Reviewed: Paperback ARC
978–0062465566| First Edition | $15.99
Harper Perennial | New York City | BUY HERE
In 2005, New Orleans suffered a devastating tragedy. Hurricane Katrina ripped through the city and left many people dead or homeless and entire neighborhoods underwater. More than that, it created two different cities: Pre-Katrina New Orleans and Post-Katrina New Orleans. Post-Katrina became an entire new setting in the world, mixing the old (the citizens with deep roots) and the new (the people who flocked to the city to rebuild). The Infinite, Nicholas Mainieri’s debut novel, shows this divide of before and after with the relationship of Jonah and Luz.
Jonah McBee is the old. Born and raised in the city before the devastation, he tries to find his own way. The only family he has left is a brother who spends most of his time as far from New Orleans as he can get. Luz Hildago is the new. Sneaked into the country as a child to live with her father in San Antonio, she comes to the city in the rush of people looking for work in the rebuilding process. Finding each other, Jonah and Luz form a relationship that reaches across this invisible barrier.
Their bond is initially strong. In the first lines of the book, Mainieri writes:
“He took her hand and the river did seem calm, but she heard the water at its turbulent depth, beating against the floor carved through millions of years.”
The two are caught up in the prime of young love, where everything is fun and exciting. But in that time, it’s easy to forget about the troubles boiling just underneath the surface, namely her father’s disapproval. But no matter what the obstacle, it can’t be ignored when Luz finds herself pregnant and shipped back to Mexico to live with her grandmother.
Their paths diverge at this point, but Jonah fights to bring them back together. When he can’t reach Luz, he makes the drastic choice to follow her to Mexico with his best friend. On his journey, he enters a world he’s not prepared for. New Orleans’ ordeals he understands, but coming across the violence of Mexico and the drug cartels isn’t something he can fathom. Still, he goes on.
This brings about another boundary between the two lovers, this time a physical one.
“We are like our countries, you and me. It doesn’t matter how close we are to each other, the border will always be there.”
The boundary between the two countries creates one of the more interesting aspects of Mainieri’s book. New Orleans and Mexico are not just simple settings in the story; the locations are as important as the characters are. The ruined city both haunts Jonah and gives him hope. He imagines rebuilding his family business and making a future for himself and Luz. The violence of cartel-infested northeastern Mexico, meanwhile, follows Luz as she tries to make her way back to her family home. Each shape Jonah and Luz in separate ways as they go different directions, away from each other.
Can a young love survive the barriers, both physical and emotional, that form between people? This becomes the central question for Luz and Jonah. Their journeys change them so much from the place they started, so in love in high school. At the end of the road, are they the same people?
Are any of us?
