MADE IN CHINA

The hardships of the author's early life in China continued when she was sent to New York City as a teen to work in her family's sweatshop. Catherine Ho's narration captures the author's relentless conflict--with her Chinese family's authoritarian and misogynist ways, with her status as an unwanted child, and within herself regarding whether she could separate herself from this family dynamic. Though Ho's tone is grim and hardened, these features keep the focus on the author's ultimate rejection of her tortured attachment to the ideal, wished-for mother she never had. Though this gripping memoir could not be more personal, it brings attention more broadly to the conflicts that current immigrants face when reconciling their families of origin with the hazards and opportunities of American culture. T.W. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2021]