I recently finished Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang and loved it. Here’s a little book review for you!
This memoir told the author’s story of growing up in New York as an undocumented immigrant. She leaves China at age 7 to come to the United States. Living in complete poverty, she tells tales of her parents fighting, her constant hunger and her self-guided education.
I was particularly fascinated by Wang’s relationship with her mother, who was an educated woman from China forced to work in sweatshops. The mom’s depression played a large role in book, as the author’s happiness was so tied to her mother’s and she often took on the role as caregiver and confidant even at such a young age.
While luck and superstition were common themes in the book, Wang showed how she created her own destiny by advocating for herself in schools, showing authority figures that she was smarter than they thought and finding a way to achieve despite the odds.
The author’s writing is fantastic — I was so impressed this was her first book. She paints every picture so vividly.
I’ve told you I love memoirs and this book is just another reason this genre’s my favorite. Highly recommend and will definitely add it to my list of favorite memoirs!
Have you read Beautiful Country?
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