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Meet Me in Venice
A Chinese Immigrant's Journey from the Far East to the Faraway West
by Suzanne Ma
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Pub Date Feb 16 2015 | Archive Date Feb 27 2015
Description
A groundbreaking work of journalism, Meet Me in Venice provides a personal, intimate account of Chinese individuals in the very act of migration. Suzanne Ma spent years in China and Europe to understand why Chinese people choose to immigrate to nations where they endure hardship, suspicion, manual labor and separation from their loved ones. Today all eyes are on China and its explosive economic growth. With the rise of the Chinese middle class, Chinese communities around the world are growing in size and prosperity, a development many westerners find unsettling and even threatening. Following Ye Pei’s undaunted path, this inspiring book is an engrossing read for those eager to understand contemporary China and the enormous impact of Chinese emigrants around the world.
Suzanne Ma is an award-winning journalist and former Associated Press reporter whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, the Huffington Post, and Salon, among others. She has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she was awarded the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship.
Born in Toronto, Suzanne was raised by immigrant parents who insisted she attend Chinese school every Saturday morning. Suzanne’s Chinese lessons continued in Beijing, where she met her husband while studying abroad. His family’s hometown is also Ye Pei’s, and the town’s remarkable three-hundred-year history of emigration inspired this book.
A Note From the Publisher
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Advance Praise
At
a time when China’s global reach is increasingly apparent, Suzanne Ma
has crafted a fascinating and human portrait of what life is like for
young Chinese migrants in Europe. Ma, who reports extensively in both
Italy and China, has a wonderful eye for detail. She sits in on a
Chinese cooking class called ‘Exit the Country,’ and she notes that a
small city known for out-migration has posted huge ‘Welcome’ signs in
five languages—but nothing that says ‘Farewell.’ This is a book for
anybody who knows what it’s like to leave home.
— Peter Hessler, author of River Town and Oracle Bones and New Yorker staff writer
Meet Me In Venice
tells of the courage, hardships, and dreams of a new generation of
Chinese who are leaving their homeland to seek fortune and opportunity
in faraway lands. Suzanne Ma brings beautiful writing, compassion, and
humor to the story of seventeen-year-old Ye Pei, who journeys to Italy
to pursue her dreams of success and independence—and along the way, to
make a perfect cup of cappuccino. Ranging from the language schools of
Qingtian to the mushroom farms and garment factories of Italy, Ma
illuminates the contours of Chinese immigrant lives that are at once
crucial to the global economy and invisible to the outside world.
— Leslie T. Chang, author of Factory Girls and former China correspondent for the Wall Street Journal
Suzanne
Ma has written a perfect little jewel of a book that gets beyond the
vague big picture and into specific communities and real lives, richly
rewarding us by opening wide a fascinating door into the world of
Chinese emigration.
— Howard W. French, author of China's Second Continent and former New York Times Shanghai bureau chief
Meet Me in Venice is
a remarkable book, a reverse Marco Polo journey in which a dutiful
Chinese teenager goes to Italy, not to find herself, but to support her
immigrant parents' elusive goal of one day opening up their own
business. This is a tale of hope and heartache. It is also an
unforgettable glimpse into one of the fundamental yearnings of our age,
the all-too-human desire for a better life.
— Jan Wong, author of Red China Blues and journalist
A
Chinese teenager's saga immigrating from Eastern China to Italy. . . .A
sensitive writer, Ma expertly channels the yearning and base desires of
her subjects through intimate conversation and cultural analysis in a
narrative full of genuine compassion and appreciation. A genial,
informative chronicle of the hopes and dreams of a Chinese immigrant.
— Kirkus Reviews
Marketing Plan
·Target news articles in Asian media such as Canada China News, Chinese Journal and China Daily
·Offer author radio interviews including PRI’s The World, Tam-tam Canada, and Voice of China
·Target features in Pacific Citizen, Rice Paper, Asian Week, and International Examiner
Prologue
Chapter 1: The BarChapter 2: Leaving ChinaChapter 3: East Meets WestChapter 4: ChinatownChapter 5: La Dolce VitaChapter 6: Shifting TidesChapter 7: The FarmChapter 8: A New YearEpilogue
Available Editions
EDITION | Hardcover |
ISBN | 9781442239364 |
PRICE | $26.95 (USD) |
Average rating from 8 members
Featured Reviews
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As a child Ye Pei dreamed of living in Venice, a floating city full of gondolas and carnivals. Her reality is somewhat different. She journeys to Italy with her mother to find work, but it is nowhere near the city of her dreams. Her mother does manual labor in a farm out in the countryside. Ye Pei gets a job working for a cruel aunt in a cafe, where life seems almost unbearable. But instead of going home to China, she perseveres and works hard to save money so her family can have the life that she always dreamed of.
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And extremely moving tale. Surprising, unexpected, and lovely.
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I read this on my way to Venice. It is not about Venice, although Venice does appear in a good view. It is about Chinese working abroad, mostly in Italy: where they came from, how they live and where they will go. I give it 5 stars because it opened my eyes to people around me wherever I am. I will also look differently at "made in" Italy, China, U.S.A. Tags
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