Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

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Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang: 2. School and Work

2. School and Work

BBC Radio 4 - Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang, 2. School and Work

As a newly arrived illegal immigrant Qian Julie's mother takes what work she can.

Qian Julie Wang's powerful memoir about growing up as an illegal immigrant in Brooklyn continues. Today, newly arrived, her mother takes what work she can. Katie Leung reads.

Qian Julie Wang's powerful and moving memoir is about leaving China for Brooklyn aged seven, and growing up as an illegal immigrant.  In today's episode, a new arrival without immigration papers, Qian Julie's mother takes what work she can.

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

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A powerful and moving memoir about growing up as an illegal immigrant in America.

Book of the Week. Qian Julie Wang's powerful and moving memoir is about leaving China for Brooklyn aged seven, and growing up as an illegal immigrant. Read by Katie Leung.

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Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

2. School and Work

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