I really enjoyed the first half of this book where the author talks about her childhood and her relationship with her mother. I think the last third that talks about her job wanders from the main emphasis of the book and I lost interest. ( )

nonfiction/memoir - miserable psychologically abusive childhood, repairing a relationship with mother, reuniting with grandmother and learning a little about what the family went through in China before immigrating.

heartbreaking narrative, complex story ( )

Made in China
The author Anna Qu was left to be raised by her grandparents in Wenzhou China while her mother immigrated to New York City to find work. When Anna is five years old, her mother comes back to get her and they reunite in New York with her new husband and a step sister and brother. Her mother has achieved success by marrying the owner of a clothing factory or sweat shop. Her daughter Anna is an embarrassment and in many ways is treated like an outsider rather than a first daughter.
The story is essentially a chronology of the terrible ways her mother treats her until Anna is able to leave the family home for school. Anna is forced to work in the clothing factory while going to school, she has to do all of the household chores, and is left out of family vacations and other activities. Anna sees guidance counsellor at her high school who helps ease some of the mistreatment.
In some ways it’s an interesting story but I grew tired of the continuous whining about her treatment at her mother’s hand. A better explanation of her mother’s own upbringing and her marriage would have provided more insight into why Anna had to endure so much of her hatred and discontent. ( )

In this fascinating memoir, author Anna Qu remembers her harrowing childhood as an unwanted Chinese daughter.

As the child of her mother's first marriage, Anna represents a part of her mother's life that the hard-driven immigrant businesswoman would prefer to forget. Her mother's antipathy makes itself known in pointed cruelties, irrational punishments, and neglect. Anna is even forced to work at the family-run garment factory/sweatshop and as a maid in the home. At the age of 15, Anna breaks free of her family's confines and makes a life of her own, but at a steep cost.

Made in China is a beautifully written, compelling memoir that deserves a wide readership. ( )

I found this a hard book to read---not because of the words, but because of the relationship of Qu and her mother. Ana was left in China when her widowed mother immigrated to the US. Doing well, Ana’s moth ended up marrying her boss in a Queens sweatshop. Ana was sent to America to live with her mother, stepfather and stepbrother and stepsister. It’s a Cinderella story without the prince. Ana was never part of the family. When people would visit, she was sent to the basement. She spent full weekends working at her family’s sweatshop making clothing. After a particularly bitter argument with her mother, she’s sent back to China to live with an old man and woman. She was too American, though, to survive Chinese life and was sent back to her mother in the US. Finally, finding a school counselor, she spent many hours talking about what life was like when you were considered a servant in your own family. An anonymous call to Child Protective Services led to her no longer working in the sweatshop. A case worker convinced the mother to let Ana work and keep the money she made as a dental assistant. After college and no support from her family, a truce of sorts is called, and Ana reflects how as an employee of a failing tech startup continues the female perspective of her family resulting in anger because of the sacrifice they are continually making. I am amazed at how when learning of her mother’s past in China and as a new immigrant, she can respond to the treatment her mother gave her with empathy. ( )