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MADE IN CHINA by Anna Qu

MADE IN CHINA

A Memoir of Love and Labor

by Anna Qu

Pub Date: Aug. 3rd, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64622-034-2
Publisher: Catapult

A grim yet gripping memoir of an unhappy, nearly loveless childhood and the author’s determined escape to a better adulthood.

Born in Wenzhou, China, Qu remained with her grandparents after her father died—whether of illness or in an auto accident, she was never sure—and her mother moved to New York. There, her mother “worked hard, caught the eye of the owner of the sweatshop she worked in, remarried, and had two kids. Not only had she succeeded in making her American dream come true, she had also managed to bring her 7-year-old daughter with her. It was an achievement worth celebrating.” When she moved in with her new family, the parents showered her half siblings with attention, food, and gifts—but not the author. Still a child, she was put to work in that sweatshop, toiling under the eye of her stepfather for 40 or 50 hours per week; at home, she was banished to the basement. Finally, her mother sent her back to China only to allow her to return to live not as the “outsider” of before but now as a clear “intruder.” Qu describes her mother with steely words: “She wore a fitted red suit with kitten heels,” for instance, “her hair pulled back from her face in a neat way that made her opinion a fact.” Eventually, the author filed a complaint with child protective services and was met with indifference. “The system I turned to is ineffective, neglectful, and careless,” she writes. “I was wrong to call them, wrong to think they stood for justice and the safety of children, wrong to be naïve, wrong to be so idealistic.” Later, Qu left for college, working diligently in both school and as a restaurant server and retail salesperson, earning grudging respect—but still not love—from her mother. The book is well written and sometimes brilliantly insightful, but it’s also saturated with seething resentment that, while thoroughly understandable, may turn some readers away.

A simultaneously powerful and depressing latter-day Dickensian story sure to elicit sympathy from readers.