by C Pam Zhang
First published 2021
Ba dies during the night. Ma disappeared long before. Lucy and Sam, children of Chinese immigrants, find themselves alone in a western mining town that never wanted them there. The siblings flee into the wilderness, carrying their father's body. They need to give him a proper burial, one that honors their family's traditions and might finally free them from the weight of their past. Their journey across the American frontier reveals giant buffalo bones scattered like monuments and tiger paw prints pressed into ancient earth. The landscape bears scars from those who came before. As Lucy and Sam travel deeper into this transformed wilderness, family secrets surface between them. Old rivalries flare. Each sibling carries different memories of their parents and different dreams of what comes next. The burial quest becomes something larger. Lucy and Sam must decide what home means when the country around them refuses to acknowledge they belong anywhere. Their story unfolds against the backdrop of an expanding America, where immigrant families struggle to plant roots in hostile soil. Zhang weaves Chinese symbolism throughout their adventure, creating a tale that examines both the bonds that hold families together and the forces that threaten to tear them apart.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, american, adventure, coming-of-age, 21st-century, 19th-century, asian-american
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, sibling-relationships, survival
Setting: American Frontier, Western Mining Town
Period: 19th Century, 20th Century
322 pages · Paperback · Virago