Made in China, by Anna Qu, is a memoir about the journey of an immigrant family from Wenzhou to New York City. It's a powerful read that explores the role of work in immigrant families, what it means to be Chinese, and how immigrants are treated in America.

The book begins when Qu is a teenager. Her mother sends her away to work at a sweatshop in Queens with other young women from their neighborhood. They're not paid for their labor; instead, they are expected to pay back the money they earn through working overtime or by doing chores for their bosses. She does these things because she wants to please her mother and support them financially, but she starts to rebel against this treatment when she gets older.

When Qu grows up and becomes an adult herself, she starts looking at the OCFS report that was given to her as a child by Child Protective Services (CPS). The report claims that she has lied about certain things—that she has been abusive toward her younger sister and that she stole money from her mother's purse while they were on vacation together—and that these lies led CPS to take action against her. Though CPS has since retracted its claims against Qu (who now works as an attorney), the experience of seeing such

Thank you for sharing this book with me. It was an excellent read highlighting an American voice that needs to be heard. I enjoyed her writing.

Where do I start with this one? I finished reading about a month before reviewing and I's still not sure how to organize my thoughts. Made In China was heart breaking, yet it was hart to put down. Every word was packed with meaning without being overemotional. I felt that this book at time lacked in structure but everything had a place.

If you want a fierce book that keeps you awake thinking at night, this is it

Thank you to NetGalley and Catapult for my eARC!

Anna Qu’s harsh upbringing in New York City brings to mind the story of Cinderella except that her birth mother treated her like the proverbial unwanted stepchild. Qu’s forced labor in a garment factory while still a child, and her mother’s withholding of affection and material support that instead went to her step-siblings, made for a cruel life, but one from which Qu eventually escapes. This immigrant tale will linger with the reader.

I initially chose this book on Netgalley as a way to connect more to my daughter’s background. She was abandoned on a busy sidewalk in the Huadu district of Guangzhou City in the Guangdong province of China. when she was 3 months old.

What I read though, completely tears my heart apart. In this memoir, Anna Qu writes about her upbringing. Left under the care of her mother’s parents for 5 years after her mother became a young widow, Anna became used to life without her mom. At 7 years old, her mother finally showed up to bring her to the United States. What Anna hoped was to be loved and acknowledged as a part of this new family her mother had with her new stepdad and new half siblings. Instead, she was treated as a servant and not given any acknowledgement or treatment that her half siblings had. It was only after Anna opened up to a school counselor in high school about her home life and forced 50 hour work week at a sweatshop that child protective services became involved. She got a tiny glimpse of freedom, but still without love and eventually estranged.

I think this book, even though painful to read, is worth the time. I read it in one sitting, not able to put it down.

Thanks to Netgalley and Catapult publishing for a chance to read this! All thoughts are my own.

Fascinating read, but the author was hard to understand. She portrays herself as being a dutiful daughter, but then occasional mentions that she was also a bit of a wild child.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

This book both touched and broke my heart.
The end of the book with her reunited with her Nie Nie is a sweet touch signalling hope, but I found it incredibly courageous for her to admit that she still holds out her wish of bettering the relationship with her mother. The memoir seems to be incomplete or not very cohesive, but I think it's actually a very honest recount of everything she had gone through and Anna Qu isn't trying to shape her stories into a definite narrative. Life is messy, and her journey so far shows that.

Made in China is a powerful memoir that makes great observations on trauma and its effects, especially coupled with the immigrant experience. A story I won't soon forget.

Rating: 2.5 stars

I always have a hard time reviewing non-fiction based on an individual’s experiences because it feels a bit like you’re judging someone’s life. Memoirs are even harder to review because they’re so deeply personal. What am I supposed to say? “I know you just poured your heart and soul into this book about your life, but allow me to rip your labor of love to pieces”?

That being said, Made in China was an ambitious attempt; it just fell short for me. This is not an indictment against Anna Qu’s desire to recount her childhood. Life was not kind to her, and I can’t imagine how difficult this must have been for her to write this. Digging up old memories and reliving the trauma could not have been easy, but it almost feels like she went through this with a “grit and bear it” attitude, and it’s reflected in her writing.

Made in China is all over the place. The whole memoir feels disjointed, and there’s a lack of cohesion. We’re given a disturbing picture of childhood with no clear sense of purpose. Having finished the book, I’m still not sure what Qu is trying to achieve with her autobiography. She’s trying to explore the dark side of the American dream, highlight societal and systemic failures, consider the East vs West, immigrant vs second generational culture clashes, write a feminist treatise on oppression, make some kind of point about inherited trauma, all while unpacking her own childhood trauma. It’s way too much for one book to handle, especially a 200 page one. The simple journey Qu undertook when processing her past need its own book. There are clearly complicated emotions are at play, but they’re glossed over because she’s tackling so many different things. There just isn’t enough space to explore the complexities of each of the issues she wants to address, and we end up with a jumbled mess of ideas.

The overall execution is messy, and Made in China lacks a clear sense of direction. The story lacks any kind of flow, which makes the reading experience a little hard. Qu alternates between her childhood and the present when she’s working for a sinking startup, and I don’t understand the connection because there isn’t really anything to tie the two storylines together. The lack of transition between the present and the flashbacks makes the overall story especially awkward. There are also random asides about the history of China or factories that seem completely out-of-place. I don’t mind the information per se, but it almost feels like a bait-and-switch when you sign up to read a memoir and start reading a bunch of exposition. It’s like Qu uses these tangents to distance herself the painful memories which is totally fine if that’s the angle she wants to take with the book–no one is forcing her to bare her soul–but then it’s not clear what she’s trying to accomplish in writing a memoir. It’s especially confusing because it seems like she wants to engage with her childhood memories and grapple with the feelings they bring, but then she’ll turn around and talk about something completely unrelated. There are just so many other competing topics whatever story she’s trying to tell is jumbled in the process.

I also have issues with the ending. It feels like a rushed attempted to create a sense of closure, but it feels disingenuous and isn’t a very satisfying conclusion. I don’t need a happily ever after, but it just feels like there’s no real resolution from the memoir. Like why am I reading this book? Why are you writing it? What am I supposed to take away from it? I’ve been sitting here making confused faces at my computer while typing out this review because I honestly don’t know.

I don’t know how much will change between now and publication, but the ARC reads more like a rough draft than a cohesive, finished product. There’s a lot of potential, but Qu’s attempt to tackle a wide range of topics means that none of them get the time and attention they deserve. As a result, we end up with a lot of half-explored ideas about childhood trauma, culture clashes, and unreliable memory, and Made in China feels more like a tangled ball of knotted thread instead of a nicely woven tapestry.

Thanks to Catapult for the early digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

What a time to read this book. You know those books that you didn’t realize would have such an impact but do? So, yes, I definitely teared up while reading some parts of this book.

I mentioned “sister” books in my Yolk review; and Made in China is definitely a “mothers” book (I would put it alongside the Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh). 

It was so frustrating and so infuriating to witness how Anna Qu’s mother treated her throughout her childhood, especially once they were living under the same roof. Even after Child Protective Services/social worker intervened (to a degree), Qu's mother still believed that her daughter could not be a part of the family and life she had created in the U.S. The social worker helped create maybe necessary distance between the mother and daughter, but the treatment was only altered not changed to be what Qu truly desired—belonging and love.

It was also infuriating to see how American systems (though being viewed as a place of opportunity and “making it”) constantly fails those that need it most.

Through this memoir, the author dwells on painful and vulnerable experiences that have shaped how her mother approaches parenthood, life in America, being married to her stepfather, how she views success. Qu had it ingrained into her that her value was tied to her work, and that she needed to work to gain a semblance of favor. Yet, her work wasn't even valued.  

Made in China is like lifting a band-aid off of a festering wound. Qu muses over childhood, trauma, family, daughters and mothers (single mothers in particular), and family history. There is a quote that really stood out to me about children and parents. It considers intergenerational trauma and how someone's childhood experiences (especially traumas that are not "overcome" or addressed) can feed into how they raise their own child.

If you're looking for a poignant memoir, particularly one dealing with the immigrant experience and family relationships, I would highly recommend Made in China: A Memoir of Love and Labor!

As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I too feel like I'm from a line of "women born to carry more than their weight."

In Made in China, Anna Qu provides an honest, raw and layered accounting of generational trauma and the way it shapes one's identity.

As a child @annaqu was raised in China while her mother worked in America towards the ever lustrous American Dream. Brought over in her preteen years, Qu feels like a true outsider living with her mother's factory-owner husband and their assimilated, Mandarin-speaking children. A family her mother created in an attempt to rise in the ranks of immigrant-hood. As a teen, she is put to work in her stepfather’s garment factory in Queens, where she suffers all manner of abusive working conditions and the constant emotional pressure of dutiful servitude in the interests of what's best for the "family.'

Again, I found myself really relating to Qu's experience and those of her mother in ways I did not expect. My grandmother and her sister (Holocaust survivors) worked in a Chicago garment factory as seamstresses, when they were trying to make their way in the US and my mother suffered many of the same indignities of being a first generation child of immigrants (what her peers perceived to be strange foods, strange smells and a lack of American hygiene standards). It made me recall several stories of hers growing up like when a teacher offered her glasses from the 'Lost and Found' bin because she was squinting at the blackboard.

The pivotal fracture in Qu's life is when, after seeing how other children grow up in her new world, she eventually decides what she is living through is not right or 'normal' and she reports her family to child and family services. One phone call that will impact the rest of her life, her family and her future relationships.

I was captivated by and heartbroken for the child Qu was and felt deep admiration for the woman Qu became throughout this beautiful debut memoir. I wish her all of the gifts and blessings of a life well understood and examined.

Publication Date: August 3rd, 2021

Thank you to @NetGalley & @catapult Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a heartfelt and painful book.

We follow Anna as she experiences betrayal, loss, and trauma. Qu opens up about moving to the US when she was young and having her mother remarry and favor her American children. Qu is treated as less, sent back to China at one point, and is forced to work in a factory. Qu finds her way out by trying to attend college but even then faces hurdles that continue into the working world.

It's a difficult read at times, but is also very eye opening. Spanning several generations and exploring what it means to be family this is a fascinating read.

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I was immediately intrigued by this book because I thought – wow, what kind of mother brings her child to the US only to turn around and force her to work in a sweatshop? I could wrap my head around a mother owning and running a sweatshop. I could even imagine having your child work in a sweatshop in a different cultural context (due to need, due to cultural expectations, etc…). But the usual immigration story is a desire for your child to have a better life than your own. How does that compute if your own life is owning the sweatshop? I had to find out.

Anna deftly uses this moment in her teen years as the way into telling her life story that is also simultaneously the story of her family, of immigration, of sweatshops, and of what happens when a family member is seemingly randomly selected as the one to be ostracized. Anna felt loved and wanted by her grandparents, but that all changed when she came to the US to join her mother, new stepfather, and two new half-siblings. But this is real life, not a fairy tale, so the change wasn’t instantaneous. To me, one of the most painful scenes of the book is the party the family threw when she arrived from China. Being able to bring a loved one over from China you had to leave behind was a real status marker and cause to be celebrated. How that party went awry and how the relationship with her mother started to fall apart was painful but eloquently told.

Of course because this is a memoir we never truly get to know Anna’s mother’s motivations. But we do get some of her perspective revealed through the case worker, case documents, and what Anna’s grandmother has to say about it. Anna is willing to explore the impact of intergenerational trauma on her mother, without excusing her mother’s actions.

Anna also explores the importance of belonging, and how that being denied outside of the family is even more important when it’s being denied inside of the family. Anna describes her role in her family as:

I was a ghost haunting a family that wanted nothing to do with me, and the loneliness left a tightness in my chest.

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Yet she also explores being othered outside of her family as well. At school she’s different because she spends some time away attending a different school. (Her mother briefly sends her to boarding school in China). She also experiences being different when she goes away to college without any familial support. The fact that she has to advocate for herself, get herself declared independent from her family, that she has to struggle to find a place to go on winter breaks and more, these all serve to show how she doesn’t fit in. I thought this was a great example of ways that society should strive to be more inclusive, as we never know what people’s home lives are like.

Beyond exploring her family trauma, Anna also examines the two-pronged issue of sweatshop labor and workaholism as seen in many immigrant families. From her perspective, this starts out as a necessity and then becomes a way of being even when it’s not a necessity anymore. With regards to sweatshop labor, Anna points out how interesting it is that she could get out because of laws about child labor but somehow this same labor was acceptable among adults. She also talks about how much worse it is for those with no legal recourse, such as those working under the table. What are the societal issues that lead to someone working under the table and how can those be addressed?

There are no easy answers to the difficult questions and problematic situations described in this book. I think a strength of this book is how Anna points out abuse has to be really bad to be resolved in our country – whether talking about home abuse or work abuse – but there’s lot of other abuses that are still abusive that still hurt people’s souls that just keep happening with very little to no intervention. What makes people, workplaces, and cultures abuse some and not others is a central exploration of this book with no easy answers.

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Anna Qu’s memoir explores immigrating to the US as a child to find her mother married and with two new half-siblings. She finds herself ostracized from the family and eventually working in her mother and stepfather’s sweatshop in NYC. A powerful and fittingly honest exploration of both the immigrant experience and the experience of being the least wanted child in a difficult family situation. There are no easy answers because this is Anna’s life.
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Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

GoodReads:
A painfully honest memoir about the complexities of family, immigration, and the impact of work on ourselves and our self-identity. Read this really quickly. Very engaging.

Check out my full review. (Link will be live August 10, 2021).

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

"Made in China", by Anna Qu is a short, but powerful memoir of a Chinese-American young woman. It starts in China, where she is born and raised up to early elementary school age by her maternal grandparents, while her mother immigrates to the US, and establishes a life for herself before bringing her daughter with her. Once that happens though, life in the US is far from idyllic for Anna, as her mother's resentful and abusive behavior towards her is unexpected and makes her always question her self-worth. In a sense, the memoir is Anna trying to make sense of her mother's resentment towards her throughout her life, as well as by what standards the abuse that she recalls so vividly is actually deemed abuse.

It's always a difficult thing to review/rate memoirs, as they are such a personal form of writing. For me, it was an infuriating read, that left me uncomfortable and perplexed at times. I could feel the mix of feelings the author had seep through the pages. It left me wanting to know more about the author's family history, but at the same time I understood that is something the author herself wants to know more about. All in all, it's a sad, but somehow hopeful memoir, and I am appreciative of it. Thank you to NetGalley and Catapult for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

It was a very heart-wrenching story to say the leas but I found myself wanting to know more about specific incidents or areas of her life. Some of the stories especially those later in her life felt a bit out of place. I would have rather she spend more time on her life with grandma around.

I don't know what it is with me and sad memoirs lately! A few posts back, I shared my thoughts on SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER, a memoir which featured a difficult mother-daughter relationship as a result of a missing father. MADE IN CHINA's Anna Qu grew up in a similar situation; after being separated from her mother for a few years during childhood (she in China, her mother in the United States), she became the odd one out in her mother's new family upon reuniting with her in America.
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MADE IN CHINA is one of the saddest books I have ever read, but Anna's resilience is definitely something to be admired as she powered through years of parental neglect. This book also provides an interesting first-hand account of the conditions of sweatshops as well as the children's aid system in America.
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MADE IN CHINA comes out next week, so keep an eye out for it! Thank you so much to @catapult for gifting me with a copy of this book! #partner

I had a hard time engaging with this, very negative tone and the story jumped around a lot. I hoped to learn more about the sweatshops in America, but that was a small part of the book. Definitely heartbreaking what this woman suffered, and I’m glad she has made her way to a good life in spite of her tragedy.
Thanks for the advanced copy.

Unfortunately, I have read many memoirs like this. You will want to cry when you read Made in China. Anna was left by her mother for five years, being reared by her grandparents. When her mother returns to bring her to America, she become an outcast. Her mother is cruel and hateful, favoring her two,other children blatantly. I was appalled at all that Anna had to endure. She is made of strong fortitude because she certainly lived a life of emotional emptiness and lack of caring from her “family.” In the end, Anna is reunited with someone special from her only time of happiness in her childhood. It’s a somber memoir.

This is a memoir of Anna Qu’s Life as a woman born in China who’s mother left her there as a very young child to be raised by her grandparents because Anna‘s father died.
She eventually was sent to the United States to live with her mothers new family of a new husband and two children, but she was never quite fully excepted by the family and was expected to clean the home and work in a sweatshop for many hours per week.
I love memoirs and books about different cultures and immigrant experiences I had a special interest in this one because I am married to a Chinese man so of course I’m very interested in Chinese culture.
There were so many hardships experienced by Anna And although she experienced severe issues at times that really impacted her childhood and her character as a young woman she also tried to see the flipside of the coin by realizing why her mother may have done certain things a certain way.
She should not have had to endure even half of the experiences she had as a child and many of us are so privileged in comparison. Many things that happened were inexcusable but she still tried to have some compassion for her mother in trying to understand why she had done things that way.
She tried to make the relationship better as she got older and extended the olive branch which was frequently declined.
I was glad to see a reuniting with someone special from her past towards the end.
I really really did like this book and I wish I was better at describing how good it was.

Anna Qu is just a little girl when her mother abruptly leaves China, handing over care of the fatherless child to her grandparents. Years later, her mother returns from the United States to retrieve Anna, but the reunion is not what the young girl has dreamt it would be. Arriving in New York City, not knowing the language or anything about the country, Anna finds that her mother has a whole new family. Not knowing where she fits in, either in the family or in the larger community, Anna struggles to make sense of her new life.

Made in China is about an unwanted child, who tries as much as she can to fit in with the rest of the family. Years of neglect and abuse takes its toll, until the day that Anna has had enough. The strength and courage that she shows is admirable, especially through difficult circumstances.

The author does not explain enough about the Chinese culture of honoring one's parents, as some readers might not understand why Anna keeps on going back for more emotional abuse even in adulthood. Overall, Made in China is well written and riveting, with Anna explaining her life in a way that will have readers mesmerized. I would strongly recommend Made in China: A Memoir of Love and Labor to those who are drawn to immigrant stories.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of Made in China: A Memoir of Love and Labor. The decision to read and review this book was entirely my own.