A voice that has been missing from the undocumented immigrant experience is finally here in the new memoir Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang. When we hear about Dreamers, the focus is usually on their present day life, but rarely do we hear what life was like when they were very young and newly arrived in America. In her debut work, Wang takes us back to her childhood when she first arrived in the United States where it was anything but the mythical Beautiful Country that she had heard of in China. Instead her new home was a precarious one because from the moment she landed in New York City, she was taught not to trust anyone for fear of deportation. Written in the voice of her seven-year-old self, Wang shares her immigration experience as she tried to make America her home while living a life cloaked in secrecy and anxiety. This book took my emotions on a rollercoaster ride. I was angered that such a small child had to work in a sweatshop. Saddened that she was intimately familiar with hunger as her family tried to survive on a $20 a week food budget. Proud of her academic accomplishments and disappointed she had to do it alone. Buoyed by her resilience. Delighted by her charm and ingenuity. Hurt that she felt she had to be the emotional strength of the family. Shame that a child would have to even experience any of this at all. What made Wang’s memoir even more heart-wrenching for me was that I saw it through the innocent eyes of a child rather than through the mature retrospection of an adult who because of hindsight understands the gravity and complexities of the past. Beautiful Country is definitely a memoir that I suggest those who want to understand the challenges immigrant children face, especially those undocumented, read. You will definitely be enlightened.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Doubleday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In a memoir like Beautiful Country, it's very difficult for me to give less than 5 stars. The author has written a book that shares snapshots of her childhood that incapsulates trauma, survival, helplessness, growth, and processing. This isn't an easy book to read; and there are a lot of difficult moments. In Beautiful Country, readers walk alongside the childhood of the author as a newly arrived immigrant in New York City from China. Being raised by traumatized parents in poverty, we follow along as the author does the best she can in the situation she's given. I think this memoir is very important and it is a story that should be told, and it was portrayed in a way where the reader feels that connection with the author. Thank you Netgalley and DoubleDay Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Can an illegal immigrant come to America otherwise known as the “beautiful country” and endure with her family hardship after hardship along with poverty and the trials that only an illegal immigrant child can face ,while keeping and growing her fierce determination and perseverance ?
Yes, it’s possible! For many such immigrants it’s not very probable though.
What a rough adjustment for parents that had professional occupations in their original country when they come here illegally and are reduced to working in sweatshops and other assorted areas of the illegal immigrants world.
Opportunities and small steps of getting ahead don’t come easy that’s for sure.
This is the story of that determination and perseverance but it’s also the story of being figuratively knocked down too many times to imagine and getting back up again, finding a way to fit in and not just survive but thrive.
A large part of the book pertains to the childhood of Qian ………. Her family life ,living conditions, school life and her observations of those she interacted with. I really felt like I was observing her life through her eyes as a child .
The family immigrated to Canada where they were welcomed and had healthcare and a slightly better life.
I’ve always liked to read stories or memoirs about different cultures and immigrants but this book truly opened my eyes to so many details of what an illegal immigrant has to endure.
We never really know what a person we’ve met has gone through in their life and what burdens and hardships they have carried, yet many times they are judged harshly and sometimes they’re just doing the best they possibly can to survive and make do in their life.
This was a great read in my humble opinion !
Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for allowing me to read this advance copy.
#BeautifulCountry #NetGalley

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang belongs to a powerful and exclusive group of books I like to call "Required Reading". Whether picked up because of school, a book club, or one's own volition, this is a story that should be read by all. Wang so honestly and openly shares her experience as an undocumented youth in America, the hurdles and barriers that she and her family faced, the ceilings of inequity, discrimination, and prejudice she consistently pushed against and broke through with her unrelenting determination and will.

Wang's approach to sharing her stories through the eyes of her younger self really set the scene and brought the reader into how she was experiencing every look, interaction, comment, and event. The memories that Wang picked to share not only communicated the raw and real experiences of those who are undocumented and living in poverty in America but also spoke directly to the early experiences of us all from first friends at school, longing for companionship, impactful teachers, and those who were anything but.

This was an incredible story of resilience, perseverance, and finding one's way in a world that was not made for you.

Qian's Story

Qian tells her story in her own words as a child brought to America illegally. She speaks of their poor living conditions and being hungry much of the time. I am happy that she finally obtained legal citizenship. It would be hard to move to a country where you do not speak the language. The fear of deportation and hunger should never be felt by a child and especially since she was so happy in China and her parents both had professional jobs making good money.

Qian handled it with courage and determination. She sounds like a very special person with a wonderful personality. I am so glad that she had such a positive attitude throughout. It was good that she learned English and made friends. She is an example that a young girl can face obstacles and surpass them to become what she wishes to become.

It is a story of one girl and one family dealing with cultural differences and poverty. I think that it relays the story well of the challenges forced on the young children when brought into the country illegally by their parents. They have no choice, but they are uprooted from their lives, their friends and often their relatives. They are brought to a country where they are different, they speak a different language and they have a hard time adjusting and fitting in. I think this is something parents should think about long and hard and ask themselves "Are we giving our child a better life?"

I received a copy of the book for my honest review which I have given.

Thanks to Qian Wang, Doubleday Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy of the book.

Mei Guo, or <i>Beautiful Country</i> is a gorgeous but heartbreaking memoir of a young girl and her parents' life as illegal immigrants in America. Determined to live a better life than the one they left behind, instead, they live in filth and poverty while both parents work the worst jobs you can imagine to put food on the table. I love the author's voice and could completely picture the sassy, scrappy little girl that she was. I found it nearly impossible to put down, yet at times, it was difficult to continue the story. This will most likely be the best thing you and I will read this year.

4.5 Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this memoir. I read the author’s riveting story in 2 sittings. Wang describes her life in the shadows of NYC as an undocumented Chinese immigrant. As a young child she ensures extreme poverty, hunger, bullying, and “shopping” in other people’s discarded trash. The author’s imagery and descriptions are so vivid that they will stay with me for a long time, especially the mother’s jobs working in the sushi plant and other sweat shops. Kudos to the author for surviving against the odds and graduating from Yale Law School and Swarthmore College! I highly recommend this book.

Beautiful Country puts readers in the shoes of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world.

I loved that description. It is perfect for this beautifully written memoir.

The Chinese word for America, Mei Guo, translates to “beautiful country”. And when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York in 1994, coming with her mother to reunite with her father who has been here for 2 years already, she is almost paralyzed with fear.

In China her parents were Professors. In America, they are illegal and must work at menial labor jobs that barely pay the rent much less food or clothes. Her Ma Ma constantly reminds her to stay hidden.

Looked down on and shunned by the kids at school and the teachers, her only savior is the library. This is where she learns everything. Her treasures are found on the filthy streets, tossed out by other poor people. She is constantly afraid, hungry, and dirty.

Her parents are always fighting. Ma-Ma is tired of sweatshops and wants to go home but Ba Ba is determined to stay. When her mother enrolls in school to get a degree, her father is even angrier. And when a health emergency arrives, they are sure they will be deported.

I was amazed at how the author told her childhood story. It was raw and gritty and not at all nice. But through it all, you can just see this little girl was not giving an inch! She belonged here and she made her own opportunities.

It broke my heart hearing the way they were treated. Highly educated people are being looked down on and judged because they wanted a life without fear of reprisals from a corrupt government and yet when they got to this land of opportunity, the opportunity is available to those born here. It made me uncomfortable and embarrassed and I think we all need to read this and take a hard look at how we treat immigrants.

I hope we hear more of her story. Very Well Done!

NetGalley/September 7th, 2021 by Doubleday Books

Heartbreaking and haunting novel-like memoir about a Chinese family who attained their dream of coming to Mei Guo -- America, the “Beautiful Country” -- hoping to find a better life here. I was stunned by the tragic nature of the beginning of Qian’s life here. Despite her parents’ education and standing in China, their illegal status forced them to give up everything and live in poverty.

While I often read memoirs, this one was a new experience for me. I usually choose those of entertainers and other famous people, but I’ve rarely read a memoir of a regular person. I now have a better understanding and sympathy for the difficult situation for undocumented immigrants in America. The story of Qian, her family, and their strength will not be easily forgotten.

I am very grateful to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Beautiful Country.

4.5 stars.

I just reviewed Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang. #BeautifulCountry #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and DoubleDay books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published September 7, 2021.

This book recounts the author’s childhood, moving from China to New York City, with her parents as undocumented immigrants. It is honest and real and heartbreaking and poignant. The author has a beautiful way with words, probably due to her love of book and the library she frequented as a young child.

It’s an incredible story of living in fear and poverty, sticking with family and ultimately following your dreams.

Original review posted on GoodReads.

Beautiful Country was one of my favorite books of 2021! A compelling and humanizing description of the immigrant experience.

BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY is a mesmerizing and evocative journey of one immigrant Chinese family who attempt to begin life over again in Brooklyn, NY. Quinn Julie Wang is a sharp, observant writer whose command of language and storytelling is heart warming and also at times heartbreaking.

Arriving via airplane from China in 1994, seven year old Qian lands in New York City with her mother. Though both of her parents were professors in China, they must live in the fringes of society in the United States as illegal immigrants. With a series of menial labor jobs between them, will Qian's parents be able to carve out some semblance of a life for themselves and their daughter? Will Qian's struggles to learn the language and make her way in a mainly hostile world lead the young girl to success as an adult?

Qian Julie Wang does an excellent job of voicing her own story and showing how life is for so many undocumented who live in America. Her well educated parents are reduced to shells of their former selves, trying to make a living without gaining any kind of attention. This memoir is well written and definitely shows the cracks in society, especially regarding the struggles to become legitimate in a country that does not want to provide a helping hand to illegal immigrants. For the reasons listed above, I would recommend Beautiful Country to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of Beautiful Country by NetGalley and the publisher, Doubleday. The decision to read and review this memoir was entirely my own.

Seeing my “Beautiful Country” through the eyes of Qian, a wiser-than-her-years transplant from China, was at once heartwarming and heartbreaking. In the face of struggles and bad luck, Qian persevered and earned her American dream, while never forgetting her inner child. I would recommend this memoir to anyone who needs uplifting and to remember that you can break free from whatever holds you back, whether that’s being an outsider or a keeper of secrets just aching to be revealed.

I found this book fascinating, sad, heartbreaking at times, and ultimately satisfying.

I have read books written from an immigrants point of view, but never through the eyes of someone from China coming to the USA, and never from a young child's perspective.

Qian leaves China a very young child, with her parents, and comes to New York City where they live illegally. Despite being university professors in China, the only work her parents can get is in very low paying jobs, often in awful conditions, cold, dirty, and working for long hours. All while being in constant fear of the authorities and deportation. This true story was a very gripping read.

The openness from Qian as she describes her fears and other feelings was very much appreciated. What a hard life it was for both her and her parents. I felt like I was watching their dreams and expectations fade as reality set in, and that was hard for me to read. I felt anger often at their treatment by others, especially those (such as one of Qian's teachers) who were in a position to improve her life, or at least help her cope. The descriptions of her constant hunger while living in one of the world's richest nations left me feeling so sad, and thinking of the thousands of people for whom this is still a daily reality.

Without spoiling the ending, I was frustrated that the 'Beautiful Country' was not part of the solution to their status.

I very much enjoyed this memoir by first time author Qian Julie Wang. It was an open, honest and raw duplication of her life in New York City as an immigrant. The strength and courage Qian and her family possess was remarkable. This book brings to life their struggle.

This story is a first-person memoir told from a child’s perspective, living undocumented in America with her parents. I think this approach made this story all the more powerful. Her experience was heartbreaking, and even more so knowing that this is just a seven year old girl dealing with such shocking situations. I recommend this beautiful book to anyone that wishes to get a glimpse of what living as an illegal alien in an unfamiliar country.

I received this e-ARC for an honest review.

Beautiful Country presents us with Wang's life story as an undocumented Chinese immigrant living in the United States after her family's visas have expired. We get to follow Wang through her early childhood growing up in China, and travel along with her as she and her mom move to the U.S. to join her father. This is an important book, offering an eye-opening description of many barriers her family faced being in this new country and ultimately without documentation. They experience racism, fear of deportation, and poverty among other things. I highly recommend this book for its ability to open your eyes to the story of an immigrant family and the challenges they faced that greatly shaped them.

This was so heart wrenching to read but the author did an awesome job making us see what it is like to be undocumented! It is so sad that her families along with others experience these harsh conditions these days. I grew to love Qian because she was such an intelligent and curious little girl! She had no problem going to the factories as a little girl to help her Mom. The sweatshops to the sushi factory! But once she was introduced to books in changed her life. Her being hungry all the time to wanting some of the top toys that everyone had she learned to do without! The scene of what she did to the ice cream was funny because the guy that owned had not been nice. I can’t say enough about this book! You really need to read it to see how so many undocumented really do live! I am so very thankful to Netgalley for letting me have an ARC.

I received this book from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily!

Beautiful Country is a real life account of what a Chinese woman remembers from immigrating to America as a 5 year old. Many of her early memories are hazy, as to be expected. I was impressed she was brutally honest about how her insecurities about herself made her become a bully to others. The horrible conditions her undocumented parents had to live with were intolerable. A weaker person would have given up. It is shocking that Wang was allowed and even paid to go with her parents to some of their jobs. Her father had his own issues that did not help them improve their lives. Wang should be proud of the person she became after going through so much.