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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
This was a really beautiful memoir about a woman who moved from China to New York with her parents at the age of seven and the hardships she faced growing up undocumented. This was well-written, engaging and does a wonderful job of demonstrating the long lasting traumas of growing up as an immigrant in America.
I thought this was a beautiful memoir that really opened my eyes to some of the tragedies and trauma that is engrained in American immigrants from such a young age.
“Heartbreak of one immigrants is never too far from another.”
“You cannot know some things are not enough until you have them.”
Thankful such books are being published and read.
“You cannot know some things are not enough until you have them.”
Thankful such books are being published and read.
Through the eyes of a child, the experiences of being an undocumented immigrant will leap off the page and into your heart in this unforgettable memoir.
In 1994, Qian Julie Wang arrives in America with her mother (Ma Ma) to join her father (Ba Ba) who has come before them. He could no longer stay in a country where he did not have freedom of expression. Both of Qian’s parents were professors in China yet their education and background became meaningless and their comfortable life disappears once they have to start anew in Mei Guo, America – the “Beautiful Country.” Harsh living conditions, hunger, sweatshops, racism and the daily fear of being found and deported become their new reality. Through it all, Qian teaches herself English and escapes into books. Their struggle seems hopeless. Yet the family’s incredible determination and resiliency moves them closer to fulfilling their dream of a better life.
Beautiful Country – A Memoir is a remarkable debut for the author, a Yale educated lawyer who had the courage to tell her story, which at times is hard to believe took place such a short time ago as the working conditions and squalor often read like a Dickens novel. Yet this is a very timely story that is especially relevant today as people continue to seek freedom.
Many thanks to Doubleday Books, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read Beautiful Country in advance of its September 7, 2021 release. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.
Rated 4.5 stars.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
In 1994, Qian Julie Wang arrives in America with her mother (Ma Ma) to join her father (Ba Ba) who has come before them. He could no longer stay in a country where he did not have freedom of expression. Both of Qian’s parents were professors in China yet their education and background became meaningless and their comfortable life disappears once they have to start anew in Mei Guo, America – the “Beautiful Country.” Harsh living conditions, hunger, sweatshops, racism and the daily fear of being found and deported become their new reality. Through it all, Qian teaches herself English and escapes into books. Their struggle seems hopeless. Yet the family’s incredible determination and resiliency moves them closer to fulfilling their dream of a better life.
Beautiful Country – A Memoir is a remarkable debut for the author, a Yale educated lawyer who had the courage to tell her story, which at times is hard to believe took place such a short time ago as the working conditions and squalor often read like a Dickens novel. Yet this is a very timely story that is especially relevant today as people continue to seek freedom.
Many thanks to Doubleday Books, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read Beautiful Country in advance of its September 7, 2021 release. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.
Rated 4.5 stars.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
Incredible; Qian’s story is so incredibly important for everyone to hear. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Raw, heartbreaking, healing. Read by author. I feel like I remember 1% of my childhood but Quran brings hers back to life with amazing detail (bc trauma?)
This was an excellent memoir that I also listened to as an audiobook. I hope many people go out of their way to read this.
At first I was frustrated with the voice of the author being a child. It felt like we were just witnessing all the things that happened to her. Helpless. Powerless. I missed the adult voice of understanding and process and feeling. The voice that tells us it will work out in the end. I guess in a way it was to avoid my own undocumented child version of myself. Who had no say in so many things. Who escaped into toys and books and academia because it felt like the only thing she could control. The child version of myself who sought out validation from teachers and was ashamed of her homelife. Half way through I started to understand that this book was meant to be this way. Because it was to honor and give voice to our inner child. It was to connect and heal those parts that live in secret and in the shadows. And I realize I never read about our undocu inner child. It was hard to read through all the moments /decisions we know will become traumatic in the future. The scraping by for promise of an american dream. Painful. The increasing anxiety. The childhood loss and grief. My heart feels so heavy and so full.
I think it’s difficult to assign a star rating to a book as personal as this one because I find there’s so much to learn from every lived experience and ratings like this don’t allow for nuance. This book was fascinating and brave and heartbreaking and frustrating. I found it worth the read if for no other reason than to gain important insights about someone else’s life experience. Would definitely recommend.