Beautiful Country: A Memoir    by Qian Julie Wang Order:  USA  Can Doubleday, 2021 (2021) Hardcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Barbara Lingens Mei Guo (America in Mandarin) literally translates as 'beautiful country,' and this is the story of how an immigrant Chinese family experiences it. Seven-year-old Qian arrives with her Ma Ma to join Ba Ba, who had left two years earlier. When she sees him again, he looks different. And pretty soon Ma Ma will also look different. In China, Qian's parents were professionals and relatively well off. In New York, because they have no papers, Ma Ma has to work at a sweatshop and Ba Ba at a laundromat. Qian is pretty precocious, and through her eyes we see how her family lives in their new China - Brooklyn. Their home is on the second floor in a single room next to a bedroom that hosts revolving families of immigrants. All share a bathroom. Dinner might be one slice of pizza for the three of them. Fear and shaming quickly become part of their lives. Qian is told not to talk to anyone, not to trust anyone, and to stay away from police officers. She and Ma Ma are called chinks, and people pull at the corners of their eyes and make faces at them. The author does a beautiful job in making us see how bewildering it all is for Qian to try to make sense of the world around her. She is a young girl in a strange and scary new world, with her parents confounded by their inability to master their new surroundings. At the same time she has her own difficulties: her constant hunger, trouble in school and her lack of friends or adults to whom she might turn for help and advice. Finally though, Ma Ma gets on her feet, and they are on their way. For me, the memoir could have ended with Chapter 30. The next one fast forwards 10 years, and I miss the young Qian's take on her world - she has grown up. Also there is a great deal of information in this last chapter, and it seems a bit confusing. Nevertheless Beautiful Country provides valuable insight into what a young stranger can experience in a world we take for granted because we speak the language and we aren't poor. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more NonFiction books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews