A review by mildlypretentiousreader
Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

“Our family was closest in the face of pain.”

“Why were we expected to speak English while praising Americans for even the crumbiest dribble of Chinese?” 

Qian Julie Wang’s Beautiful Country details her life as an undocumented immigrant in New York City. As a young child, Qian and her mother reunite with her father in “Mei Guo,” the Chinese word for America meaning “Beautiful Country.” Mei Guo turns out to be anything but beautiful. 

Told through the lenses of a child, we peek into the fearful and harrowing life of an undocumented Chinese immigrant family. The Wang family is forced to live 

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