A review by alisonburnis
On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of a Chinese American Family by Lisa See

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

At her great-aunt’s eightieth birthday, See is told she should write their family story: people are only getting older, and the stories are slipping away. So See ends up embarking on a quest to tell the story of the Fongs and Sees (See becoming a last name through an immigration mistake), starting with her great-great grandfather, but ultimately focusing her energies on her great grandfather, Fong See, who went to the United States at 14, and put into motion much of the circumstances of their lives. He married a white woman, Letticie Pruett, and from then on, the Sees are a bit different, hard to categorize in a country which isn’t ready for Eurasian children.

Fong See and Letticie create a business empire which lasts past their late divorce and both of their lives, and is intimately connected to all of the generations of the family. Sometime a little draggy, On Gold Mountain is sweeping tale of racism, opportunity, and managing to find success. See carefully weaves the historical context into her family’s story and makes it rich, complex history.