Beautiful Country, Qian Julie Wang
‘…in the vacuum that was undocumented life, fear was gaseous: it expanded to fill our entire world until it was all we could breathe.’
Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang is a poignant memoir about her life as an undocumented immigrant arriving from China as a young girl to Mei Guo (a word for America which translates to “beautiful country”). Wang tells of the heart-wrenching difficulties of adapting in a new country and witnessing her parents (who were professors in math and literature in China) work backbreaking jobs and endure physical labour in factories. They were barely earning enough to survive and were a family living in poverty in the wealthiest country in the world. Her parents were in constant fear of deportation and passed this anxiety down to Qian Julie, always reminding her to tell her friends and teachers if they asked that she was born in America. Wang constantly shares how apprehensive and fearful of strangers her family was, and of those who they would encounter daily. The pain, trauma, and awareness that Wang speaks of about her new life is palpable - but so is her determination, bravery, and loyalty to both her family and her new journey in America.
Qian Julie describes her experience of how books and libraries were her dearest friends growing up, feeling like a warm hug and a safe space. I related to her memories of checking out piles of Babysitter’s Club books at the library and finding solace in watching The Puzzle Place on TV because of its multicultural cast of characters. Wang found comfort in the written word away from the outside world. However, her story is not about giving up. It’s a story is about resilience and adaption, about pursuing dreams through the trauma and unrelenting days of hunger as a child.
This is not an easy read but it is an important one. I’m so grateful that I read this amazing memoir, and so thankful for Qian Julie for telling her incredible story. It will stick with me for a very long time. You truly don’t know someone or understand what they have been through until you walk in their shoes. I wholeheartedly recommend this beautiful memoir to you all.
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