Made in China: A Memoir of Love and Labor

This book is an impressive debut. The memoir is timely because of its intimate take on current hot button issues - immigration, class, China and the Asian American experience. However, it transcends the current moment because at its core its about: parental shortcomings and the inability of children to truly overcome that no matter how extreme the circumstances; empathy; shame; breaking generational cycles; and, the quote "everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." I don't know a single soul who can't relate to this book and whose heart won't be touched by Qu's experiences and her perseverance in the pursuit of love and self-worth. Beyond all of that, it's just really well written and is a true page-turner.

This book is terribly sad. Painful to read. The author is separated from her single mother (her father died just after she was born) who goes to America, to earn a better living than she could in China, leaving her infant daughter to be raised by her grandparents.Young Anna never understands why her mother is gone but assumes she is coming back. Five years later, she appears, a woman completely unknown to her, whose voice she barely recognizes from staticky phone calls, back to claim her and take her to a foreign land where she doesn’t speak the language, with a stepfather and two half-siblings who will grow up treating her as if she is not a part of their family. Her mother shuns her, embarrassed by her own past and poor upbringing which she would like to leave behind, it’s never quite clear why she came back for Anna in the first place. So ashamed of her daughter, she hides her from relatives, shows no affection toward her, and treats her like a servant in the new middle-class life that she has worked so hard to claim.To make matters even worse, her mother and stepfather put her to work, when she is not in school, both at home and at their Queens sweatshop, under harsh conditions, leaving her no time to be a kid or do her schoolwork. The mistreatment goes on up until she is kicked out of the house before she leaves for college. Each step of her upbringing is excruciating. This child is on her own in every way from her emotional, physical, and educational needs.It is astounding that she makes it out of the house alive and in one piece having suffered such extreme emotional and physical abuse. What’s even more remarkable is Anna’s ability to look back on her traumatic childhood with an open and forgiving heart. She never gives up trying to find the ‘why’ behind her mother’s behavior, even trying to compare her family’s immigrant story to the present day at her failing start-up job as it slowly goes under. MADE IN CHINA is a testament to a young woman’s strength and resilience.

Not terribly important (and my own fault for not reviewing the product details), but the book's 224 pages would be considerably fewer in a normal sized hardback. I would be curious about the size of the print-- it would have to be microscopic to justify the $30+ price tag. Not that keen to read it and returned the box unopened.

This is the perfect book for a book club. Page turning book for a wide spectrum of reader preferences. Great length. The story keeps you engaged. The fact that it's a memoir/non-fiction really compels you to want to chat about it with others who've read it. Highly recommend this for those to love to share and discuss books!

This is a devastatingly sad and difficult book to read but without a doubt worth the time and emotional energy required. The author's childhood was disturbingly abusive and tragic. But, one thing I respect about the way she tells her story is her mature reflections and realizations as an adult and her willingness to reexamine her earlier perspectives, including her recognition of the curse of generational abuse.One of the most damning (but, sadly, unsurprising) parts of this book is the infuriating failures she finds her in social services files. Like we needed even more evidence that the system is a hopeless mess? Infuriating!I also hope many, MANY teachers and school administrators read this book because it can help open their eyes to blind spots in their assumptions about students and their parents.Too many people think that child abuse only "counts" if it was physical or sexual. But, neglect, psychological, and verbal abuse can leave even deeper, lasting wounds. The author has bravely risked much to tell such a personal story in aching detail.The only thing keeping me from giving this book 5 stars is that the storytelling is sometimes disjointed and jarring. Leaping back and forth in time to tie relevant threads together is an acceptable literary device. But, this author has yet to master that skill.

So many emotions while reading this very well written memoir. A must read for anyone!

I read this after hearing the author interviewed on the writing podcast So You Want to be a Writer. It’s one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. It charts the author’s relationship with her mother, who left her for America where she remarried and had two children and then sent for her to come join them in America when she was five. What follows is heartbreaking, as Ana is increasingly isolated from her half siblings and treated like a maid, then forced to work in her family’s sweatshop, all while living in the US. I found it a really interesting and emotional insight into the dark side of the immigrant experience of the American dream.