大象传媒

In Qian Julie Wang's powerful memoir about growing up as an illegal immigrant in America, she and her mother make a life-changing journey, and the past catches up. Katie Leung reads.

Beautiful Country is Qian Julie Wang's powerful and moving debut. Here she tells of her childhood growing up as an undocumented illegal immigrant with her parents, who had both been professors back home in China. Here they labour at menial, degrading jobs, and Qian Julie vividly describes the sweatshops and sushi factories where she and her mother undertake gruelling work, for little pay. Fear of the immigration authorities, poverty and hunger are the family's constant companions. In school, Qian Julie is quickly marked out as an outsider, and loneliness compounds her impoverished life. When illness strikes, the family is terrified as they are compelled to emerge from the shadows. Qian Julie's past has left an indelible mark, but as she looks back on her childhood what emerges is a portrait of grit and determination to overcome hardship.

Qian Julie Wang is a graduate of Yale Law School, and is a managing partner of a law firm advocating for education, disability and civil rights. She lives in Brooklyn. This is her first book.

Katie Leung first came to public attention for playing Cho Chang in the Harry Potter franchise. Recent television roles include Chimerica, Roadkill, and The Nest.

Abridged by Sarah Shaffi
Produced by Elizabeth Allard