Dorie - Cats&Books :) 's Reviews > Beautiful Country

The majority of this novel is about Qian Julie Wang’s childhood from age 7 through 6th grade. There is some background on the family at the beginning and then author’s notes at the end to complete the story.

I have read a lot of books about immigrants but each one is unique. Many immigrants have come from impoverished countries, having always been poor and are looking for a better life in the United States.

Ms. Wang however, grew up in a childhood that was filled with love, friends, her own room and toys to play with. Her mother was a math professor and her father an English professor. Things were changing for them. Where once they were a thriving family with a good income and a nice home, they were now being watched constantly. Her father “did not like that they were told what to say, and that they could not answer when students asked about something called the Cultural Revolution”. They decided he would come to “Mei Guo”, the beautiful country and would then send for his wife and daughter.

Ba Ba had not warned Ma Ma or Qian about the conditions he was living in. Where once they were professors, now they were working menial jobs under terrible conditions. They shared a tiny apartment that was dirty, with very little to call their own.

Qian quickly learned that they were “different” than other people here, even those that looked like her. They spoke a different language and their food was different. She was told to always say that she was born here, for fear of deportation as they were undocumented immigrants.

In many ways her story is that of so many other immigrants. Qian and her parents never gave up hope and Qian was determined to go to college and beyond.

As I read the memoir I did feel emotional. No one should have to live a life of poverty, little food and terrible living conditions.

Yet in spite of all of these hardships, the author still chose to return to the US for law school and continues to call New York home. She also credits the city library for allowing her to immerse herself in the language and even the culture of the US.

I received an ARC of this memoir from the publisher through NetGalley.