Beautiful Country: A Memoir
By: Qian Julie Wang
Released: September 7th, 2021
Pages:
My Rating: 5/5
Goodreads Synopsis:
In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to "beautiful country." Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 fill of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. In China, Qian's parents were professors; in America, her family is "illegal" and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive.
In Chinatown, Qian's parents labor in sweatshops. Instead of laughing at her jokes, they fight constantly, taking the stress of their new life on one another. Shunned by her classmates and teachers for her limited English, Qian takes refuge in the library and masters the language through books, coming to think of The Berenstain Bears as her first American friends. And where there is delight to be found, Qian relishes it: her first bite of gloriously greasy pizza, weekly "shopping days," when Qian finds small treasures in the trash lining Brooklyn's streets, and a magical Christmas visit to Rockefeller Center - confirmation that the New York City she saw in movies does exist after all.
But then Qian's headstrong Ma Ma collapses, revealing an illness that she has kept secret for months for fear of the cost and scrutiny of a doctor's visit. As Ba Ba retreats further inward, Qian has little to hold onto beyond his constant refrain: Whatever happens, say that you were born here, that you've always lived here.
Inhabiting her childhood perspective with exquisite lyric clarity and unforgettable charm and strength, Qian Julie Wang has penned an essential American story about a family fracturing under the weight of invisibility, and a girl coming of age in the shadows, who never stops seeking the light.
My Review:
Wow - what a touching memoir. I was really excited to start this as soon as I received my Book of the Month box in the mail because I thought it was something that would really make me think. Being a white female who was born in America I do not know the struggles of so many who choose to uproot their families and make their way here. Being able to read about it from Qian's perspective was heartbreaking as well as inspiring.
How often do you find yourself complaining about "first world problems". I know I do and I would bet that we all do or have at some point. Beautiful Country offers such a perspective of a Chinese family coming to and trying to make their way in America that it really makes you check your privilege. I found myself so saddened by the amount of chapters that Qian talks about how hungry she was and how she was wearing the same shirt for a few days in a row or how she would look for toys while taking out the trash in hopes of finding something that was discarded by another child. I left this book just feeling so thankful for what I do have and really understanding that there are severe injustices that go on.
I also left this book feeling inspired. I feel inspired by Qian and how she and her family were able to overcome the obstacles placed in front of them. I felt inspired by her mother who went to school while experiencing severe stomach pain and got her degree. I felt inspired by Qian who taught herself to read in elementary school so she could get out of the "special needs" class because she could not speak English.
This is a book I believe everyone should pick up as you can take away so many different things from it. It is very eye opening and makes you feel gratitude for the things that you do have and have accomplished. It is a beautifully told piece of a family trying to make their way in this "beautiful country".
Signing off,
Molly
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