Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang is a powerful memoir. Qian was born in China in 1987, and at age 7 she moved with her parents to New York to start a new life. The book traces Qian’s life for 5 years, until she turns 12. Because they were undocumented, Qian and her family lived in utter poverty. Qian’s mother had been a professor in China, but could only find work making pennies a day. Qian was hungry most of her childhood, but she never lost hope. Books became her refuge; they taught her English. The characters became her closest friends. One of the things I loved most about this book is that it is written through Qian’s childhood eyes. That is the power in this memoir; she is a child trying to make sense of everything going on around her without command of the language.
I could go on forever about this book. It is that good. Teachers are using it in their classrooms to teach about the lives of undocumented immigrants. There is talk of using the book in college curriculums, and some have said Beautiful Country will become a modern classic. That is incredible for a debut novel!
The novel also makes one think about how many “Qians” are out there now? What did my early ancestors go through when they immigrated to the United States? I’m so glad that Qian Julie Wang wrote her secrets into this beautifully written memoir. It is a book I will always cherish reading.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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