Cindy Fazzi is a Filipino American writer and former Associated Press reporter. She’s the author of the Domingo the Bounty Hunter series. Danger No Problem (book 1), previously titled Multo, was a finalist in the Best Literary category of the 2024 Silver Falchion Award. Book 2 is titled Sunday or the Highway.
At Electric Lit Fazzi tagged six of her "favorite novels about undocumented immigrants written by immigrants, and one equally outstanding novel written by a first-generation Brazilian American author." One title on the list:
Amnesty by Aravind AdigaRead about the other entries on the list.
The fear of deportation and feelings of displacement are common among undocumented immigrants throughout the world, and Amnesty portrays this brilliantly. Danny, originally from Sri Lanka, works as a cleaner in Sydney, Australia. The governmenthas rejected his application for refugee status, so he must toe the line. With a steady job and a girlfriend, he’s fairly content being invisible in his adopted country. But Danny’s invisibility is threatened when one of his clients is murdered. He knows the dead woman had an affair with another client of his. Danny faces a moral dilemma. He has no rights in his adopted country, and yet he has a moral responsibility to help in the case of the dead woman. Should he tell the police what he knows to help get justice for the victim, even though it would mean revealing his legal status to authorities and risking deportation? Indian-born Adiga presents Sydney from the unique lens of an undocumented immigrant during a thrilling twenty-four hour period. Danny’s predicament forces us to examine the importance of a citizen’s responsibilities vis-à-vis his rights.
--Marshal Zeringue
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