Beyond the Wall
By Ed Avis
Looking for some holiday reading? You’ll enjoy Beyond the Wall: 20 Untold Immigrant Stories: From Survival to Success. This new book, written by mother/daughter team Guadalupe Tovar and Esmeralda Castelan, chronicles the life stories of 20 Latino immigrants now succeeding in the culinary world in Chicago.
The book includes the stories of several well-known restaurateurs, such as Carlos Gaytan and Enrique Cortez, and some who are building reputations, such as Pablo Pineda, a Guatemalan immigrant who owns El Patio Latin Restaurant in Chicago.
For example, the book tells of the day Gaytan learned that his restaurant, Mexique, had earned a Michelin star. He didn’t know what it meant, and he had just talked to his wife about selling the restaurant because it wasn’t doing well. “Days went by and things started to change,” Gaytan recounts. “People were coming into the restaurant but this time it was a new crowd and the whole place had a new feel. I had people coming from all over to try my food, and it was all because of this star.”
Many of the stories are deeply personal. For example, Cortez reveals the moment he realized his beloved brother had died: “I remember waking up in the middle of the night in sweats and breathing so heavily that it felt as if my diaphragm was being held hostage behind the hard cage of my ribs and was just itching for a way out. It was four in the morning, and I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but I knew that something was off in the atmosphere. In that moment, one of my younger siblings slammed my door open and told me that my older brother had been in a tragic car accident. In that moment, I knew what the inevitable truth would soon bring; I knew that he was gone.”
Several themes run throughout the book. One is that nearly all of the people profiled came to the United States to seek greater opportunities. But they did not feel entitled, and several of the interviewees discuss working for far less money than they were due, but not complaining about it. Another theme is a driving need for the immigrants to better themselves, and in many cases, open their own businesses. They were not satisfied until they were fulfilling the dream of running their own restaurants.
The bottom line is this: The Chicago area is richer because of the efforts of these immigrants. They have started businesses, raised families, and contributed to the community. The book is a rebuke to anyone who views immigrants as consumers of government benefits rather than producers of community strength.
Castelan says the book took about eight months to write. Each story began with an interview by her mother of the person being profiled; the interviews were transcribed and translated to English; and then Castelan crafted each into a story.
“A lot of the rhythm of the stories came from Esmerelda’s writing,” Tovar says.
The rhythm of the writing matches the rhythm of the lives of the people profiled – inspiring and uplifting.
The book is available on Amazon. Learn more at beyondthewallbooks.com.