On the heals of Labor Day, this memoir is the perfect read and really struck a chord with me. As a daughter of Portuguese immigrants, I felt an immediate kinship with Qian from the get-go. And yet, she faced so many more struggles than I did, since she was the daughter of undocumented immigrants. Hers was a starkly different experience, in that she and her parents were constantly living under the veil of fear, never knowing if they would be deported. Living with this ever-present undercurrent of anxiety is a tremendous hardship, and one that affects an innumerable number of families in our country.
Ms. Wang takes readers along on her unforgettable, painful journey beginning in 1994, through childhood and into adulthood, as she maneuvers a new life where she and her family are shown nothing but disregard. It is a journey that most Americans cannot fathom, and yet it is all too common in the USA. We live in a nation that exhorts the evils of undocumented immigrants and yet relies heavily upon these hard-working individuals for essential jobs - jobs that allow us to live the very privileged lives we lead. And rather than exalting these members of our society, we often demean and disparage them, making them feel like outsiders in a land that was founded by foreigners just like them.
As you can clearly see, this novel hit home. And it made me remember what a privilege it is to live in this great country, while reminding me of the great responsibility we have to welcome those that choose to join our American Dream. Hopefully we can allow others to embrace this Mei Guo, "Beautiful Country."
Many thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for gifting me with this early reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. Special thanks to Ms. Wang for sharing your journey with us and enlightening your readers on the struggles that so many endure.
Read 8/31/21
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