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A review by mg_in_md_
On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of a Chinese American Family by Lisa See
4.0
This was such an interesting read! I've had this on my TBR list forever, but never seemed to get around to it even though Lisa See is one of my favorite authors (and I absolutely loved her mother, Carolyn's, book reviews when she worked for The Washington Post). I bought a copy at a used bookstore, thinking it help move this up my reading rotation. Then, I decided to suggest it to one of my book clubs and we ended up selecting it as our April read. We all really enjoyed this narrative non-fiction account of Lisa See's family roots and how her great-great-grandfather immigrated from China to Gold Mountain (the U.S.) and established a new life for himself in California. She traces her family roots back to the late 1880s and brings the family story up to the present (the mid-1990s at the time the book was first published). Fans of See's work will see how her own family tree and the research she did to learn more about the family, the times, and China might have sparked ideas for her works of fiction.
Everyone in the book club felt that there were spots that dragged a little due to the level of detail and trying to keep track of all of the family members. The family tree included in the edition of the book that I read was very helpful in that regard and I found myself referencing it frequently, especially in the earlier chapters. The edition of the book that I read also included several maps, which I also referenced a bit while I was reading, and had several insets of family photos. They both helped me keep names, places, etc. straight and brought See's family story to life even more. If you're a fan of Lisa See and haven't read this yet, or simply like learning about history from a personal perspective, you won't be disappointed with this fascinating family history.
I selected this as my pick for the 2023 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompt "a book about a family."
Everyone in the book club felt that there were spots that dragged a little due to the level of detail and trying to keep track of all of the family members. The family tree included in the edition of the book that I read was very helpful in that regard and I found myself referencing it frequently, especially in the earlier chapters. The edition of the book that I read also included several maps, which I also referenced a bit while I was reading, and had several insets of family photos. They both helped me keep names, places, etc. straight and brought See's family story to life even more. If you're a fan of Lisa See and haven't read this yet, or simply like learning about history from a personal perspective, you won't be disappointed with this fascinating family history.
I selected this as my pick for the 2023 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompt "a book about a family."