The thing with memoirs is they are very I-centric. They are full of "this happened to me", "I felt this", "I wanted to know why", among other things. This is not a bad thing. After all, the author is sharing something monumental in his/her life.
Case in point: Susan Lieu tells us about losing her mother at the age of 11. This was a very strong line in her life. Before her mother's death there was a big family that lived and worked together. After her mother's death, the family split and she rarely saw her mother's side of the family again. No one spoke about her mother. It was as if her mother had done something unspeakable, when all she wanted was to be more beautiful.
Susan spent a large portion of her life trying to find and understand her mother. She went to Viet Nam several times to talk with relatives about their memories of her. Mostly she got nothing, but slowly, bit by bit, she started to see the person her mother was. After that, she started to feel her mother's presents occasionally. To consolidate her impressions, and because other people asked her to, she created a spoken word show about her mother called "140 pounds; How Beauty Killed My Mother". Most of that show informs this book.
The first generation cultural conflicts of immigrants is not something we think about. The parents live with the customs they learned from their parents while the children learn our language and ways. Sometimes understanding of what really happened comes years later, after hurts have separated children from other relatives. Susan found that to be the case in her family.
I liked this look at the the way Susan grew up. I recommend the book.
I want to thank the publishers who gave me this book through Netgalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
Case in point: Susan Lieu tells us about losing her mother at the age of 11. This was a very strong line in her life. Before her mother's death there was a big family that lived and worked together. After her mother's death, the family split and she rarely saw her mother's side of the family again. No one spoke about her mother. It was as if her mother had done something unspeakable, when all she wanted was to be more beautiful.
Susan spent a large portion of her life trying to find and understand her mother. She went to Viet Nam several times to talk with relatives about their memories of her. Mostly she got nothing, but slowly, bit by bit, she started to see the person her mother was. After that, she started to feel her mother's presents occasionally. To consolidate her impressions, and because other people asked her to, she created a spoken word show about her mother called "140 pounds; How Beauty Killed My Mother". Most of that show informs this book.
The first generation cultural conflicts of immigrants is not something we think about. The parents live with the customs they learned from their parents while the children learn our language and ways. Sometimes understanding of what really happened comes years later, after hurts have separated children from other relatives. Susan found that to be the case in her family.
I liked this look at the the way Susan grew up. I recommend the book.
I want to thank the publishers who gave me this book through Netgalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.