A review by kellee
We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family's Mythmaking and Migration by Jessica Goudeau

dark informative sad medium-paced

3.5

A bit of an expansive concept. I thought this author’s previous book, Across the Last Border, about two immigrant families, was exceptional. The title of this one made me think it would be about her family’s reckoning with their Texas roots, but I don’t think she achieved her purpose in this book, which was to tie in her family’s history with colonialism and the takeover of Texas land. I get it, real life never fits neatly into the narrative. Still, there is a lot of Texan history and a lot of life in these pages. They just don’t always go together.

3.5 stars because I like what she’s trying to do, and the research she did shows.