Candido Rincón has left his small town of Tepoztlán, Mexico, and stolen into the U.S. with his young pregnant wife America. They barely eke out an existence by day labor. Unable to earn enough money to rent an apartment, they camp out in a ravine adjoining Delaney and Kyra's lovely gated community.

Despite persistent hunger, injuries, rape, homelessness, unattended childbirth, and a natural disaster, Candido and America desperately cling to the American dream. When the paths of these two couples unexpectedly collide, Delaney's liberal beliefs are quickly put to the test.

Boyle's novel plunges readers headlong into some of the travesties of American life today - affluence and excess alongside abject poverty, a wealth of food within sight but out of reach of the homeless, violence against women, racism, lack of access to basic health care - and leaves readers no choice but to grapple with these issues.

The Tortilla Curtain can be found in the fiction section of the Recreational Reading Collection located on the first floor of the Library.