China: Paper Wife

Paper Wife

by Laila Ibrahim

      I've stalled in writing this post because I'm disappointed in my choice for China.  There are So Many Amazing Books Set in China!  And instead of one of those powerhouses, I chose one that was simply light and entertaining.  After all of the struggling I've done to find a book set in tiny countries where there isn't much to choose from, in retrospect I wish I had chosen better for China.  So I've hemmed and hawed about whether I want to pick something else and read two China books, but in the end, I decided I still have a lot of countries ahead of me so will chalk this up to a good lesson learned and pick more wisely with the next country where there is a plethora of options.

     All of this said, Paper Wife, by Laila Ibrahim, was enjoyable, and I would recommend it to other readers.  The story begins with a twist of fate that leads Mei Ling to a life she never wanted and couldn't possibly have imagined.  It was the life intended for her elder sister ... marriage to a wealthy, Chinese merchant who had immigrated to American and returned for a traditional wife to help him raise his young child.  When her sister becomes ill on the day of the wedding, the matchmaker persuades Mei Ling to stand in her place in order to avoid shaming her family.  And after presenting the false identity of her sister to her new husband, she goes on to assume another false identify ... that of her husband's first wife, in whose name all of the immigration papers had been filed long ago.  She is thus a "paper wife," not able to truly be herself, but instead required to memorize and assume as her own the details of the first wife's life, which had been compiled in a thick notebook for her to study during the long journey across the ocean.

     Arriving in San Francisco, Mei Ling quickly learns that Kai, her earnest husband, is also not who he had claimed to be either.  He is neither wealthy nor a merchant, but over time, Mei Ling sees that he is gentle, kind, and determine to please and care for her.  With Kai's two-year old son, they soon become a happy little family, making the most of their meager subsistence, happy in the sweetness of their loving partnership.  The only thing missing is Siew, the young girl who befriended Mei Ling on the long journey but had disappeared into the city with her uncle once the ship reached the shore.

     As Kai and Mei Ling begin to search for Siew, they become embroiled in a dangerous, life-threatening situation involving Siew's "uncle," who brought her to the United States in order to pay off his own debts by selling her into prostitution.  The novel sheds light on the desperation, vulnerability, and extremely harsh reality of being a Chinese immigrant in the 1920's.  The most endearing part of the book was the sweet love story between Kai and Mei Ling, their devotion to each other and to the children who make up their blended family. 

Chile: In the Midst of Winter

In the Midst of Winter

by Isabel Allende

     I read this book back in November, right around Thanksgiving when I was frantically busy with the holiday and also suffering from the worst head cold in the history of mankind, so I was not feeling up to writing.  And then we were full bore into holiday mode, which always seems to take over my life in a way that doesn't feel terribly productive or necessary but which happens year after year after year.  A New Year's resolution is always to simply, be more minimalist, seek tranquility.  Here's hoping that will happen in 2019.

     In the Midst of Winter brings together three people whose lives collide unexpectedly on a cold, snowy night in modern day New York.  Richard is a stodgy, bitter, American professor, who opened his home to Lucia, a vibrant, passionate professor from Chile who has come to New York to teach for a year.  Living in his comfortable but cold basement apartment, Lucia is surprised and disappointed that Richard has not truly welcomed her, does not wish to be her friend, and treats her like a tenant instead of a guest.  They come together one night when Evelyn, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala shows up at the door, frantic for help and refuge after finding a dead body in the trunk of her employer's car, which she had borrowed without permission.  As the three characters hatch a plan to address this shocking discovery, they begin to trust each other and share their personal histories.  Each chapter weaves the present to each person's past:  Richard's love and great loss in Argentina; Lucia's youthful, courageous fight for human rights in Chile; and Evelyn's strength and determination to survive the violence of her childhood in Guatemala.  

     The stories of the past are far more compelling than the scenes that take place in the present.  Through each, Allende provides a window into worlds we would not otherwise know ... and of course, this is the best part of reading, is it not?  

Chad: The Roots of Heaven

The Roots of Heaven

by Romain Gary

Published in 1958, The Roots of Heaven tells the story of Morel, a World War II POW, who has made it his life's mission to save the elephants.  Finding himself in French Equatorial Africa ... which we know now as the country of Chad ... Morel is desperately trying to persuade the colonialists there to sign his petition to ban hunting for ivory.  He confides to Minna, the novel's heroine, that while he was imprisoned during the war, he thought constantly about elephants to distract himself from his misery.  He felt that they had, in some sense, actually saved him ... and so he owes them something in return.  Despite initial defeat, Morel persists until one by one, his naysayers begin to join him until an eclectic but passionate cast of characters have rallied in support of saving the elephants.

This was interesting to read at this time in our history, when questions of the environment and ecology are swirling around in the muck and turmoil of our difficult political conversations.  Sixty years after this novel was published, the world's elephants are still in danger with thousands being killed every year for their ivory.  National Geographic tells us that in the 1800's, there were 26 million elephants roaming Mother Earth, but because of the ivory trade and exploitation of these majestic creatures, in 1989, there were only 600,000.  A short-lived, worldwide effort rallied the population briefly, but it did not last, and the numbers are plummeting again.  There's a documentary called Battle for the Elephants that's now on my viewing list so I can learn more.  And I plan to monitor the Great Elephant Census to understand more about this crisis.

Yet in 2017, the U.S. reversed a ban on imports of elephant trophies, including mounted heads and ivory. 

I'll just leave that sentence there.

Central African Republic: Daba's Travels

Daba's Travels from Ouadda to Bangui

by Pierre Makombo Bambote

This was literally the only work of fiction I could find that is set in Central African Republic (CAR.)  Other bloggers have reported the same challenge, so it seems many of us are reading the same book for this small, seemingly forgotten country in the middle of Africa.   Daba's Travels from Ouadda to Bangui is a children's novel that is the largely autobiographical story of the author's childhood.  Our young narrator, Daba begins with his early years in the remote village of his birth, but he doesn't linger there for very long.  The book follows Daba on a strange series of events that turns into one amazing opportunity after another.  Although he misses his parents as any child would, Daba seems quite stoic and curious about his each environment and surroundings as he journeys far from home, first living with his aunt and uncle, then a wealthy family friend, and finally at a boarding school where he works hard and excels in his education.  Daba becomes pen-pals with Guy,  a schoolboy in France.  Guy ... ironically ... wins a trip to CAR and shows up to spend the summer ... without parents or any other adult ... with Daba and his schoolmates, traipsing outside of the city and into the villages where they chase lions and crocodiles and forget to return to school.  This part of the story seemed as much of a daydream or a yearning for boyhood adventure than it did a memory of actual events, but I believe it can fairly be chalked up to the author's right to take poetic license.  It does serve as a lovely insight into Bambote's love for his homeland and sets the stage for the final chapter in which Daba wins a scholarship to study in France.

This was a quick read with some entertaining glimpses into life in CAR through the eyes of a child.  Clearly written for children, perhaps in the 3rd to 5th grade range, this story was written in 1962 and translated into English in 1970.

Cape Verde: Other American Dreams

Other American Dreams

by Sergio F. Monteiro

Set in the archipelago country of Cape Verde off the western coast of Africa, Other American Dreams shows the sordid side of immigration.  Through the dark tale of how Cape Verdean authorities respond to a ship full of dead migrants washing onto its shores, Monteiro highlights the vulnerabilities of the world's citizens who are either without a home or in desperate need of a better, safer home.  This novel juxtaposes the stories of two young Cape Verdeans who have returned home after attempting to immigrate to America and, of course, of the dead migrants whose efforts were less successful.  Most Americans have never heard of Cape Verde, or if they have, are unaware of where it's located on the globe, who its people are, or what it may have to offer.  It is so interesting that this tiny little nation of islands has big problems with "illegal" immigration, just like the United States and other developed countries.  

Monteiro wraps up these important and compelling themes in a somewhat mediocre plot involving drugs, corruption, and human trafficking.  I did not particularly enjoy this book, to be honest.  

However, I like the heck out of Monteiro as a person, based on the little bit I've read about him.

Apparently, as a child growing up in Cape Verde, he witnessed migrants arriving by sea.  In a September 2015 review of the book, Monteiro is quoted saying, "I saw them come in shocked, malnourished, sometimes bruised.  And I saw the aftermath of how their lives evolved after they made it to Cape Verde.  Some did well and others didn't."  Monteiro found their plight so compelling that he donates 20% of his book sale proceeds to Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS,) a non-profit organization that conducts search and rescue missions to save refugees who are dangerously trying to cross the Mediterranean in overcrowded boats.  Take a look at MOAS's website.  Pretty inspiring stuff.  Anyone who uses his own success to contribute to the well-being of others, as Monteiro has, gets an A+ in my book.  Pun intended.  

Reminds me of my fellow blogger, the Book Trekker, who includes a charitable donation towards something important in every country that she reads for her blog.  Kinda makes you feel a little better about the world, doesn't it?

Canada: The Ever After of Ashwin Rao

The Ever After of Ashwin Rao

by Padma Viswanathan

I forgot that I already read and wrote about a book set in Canada, back when I broke from reading alphabetically for a short time.  Good to a Fault, by Marina Endicott, was a great story, but it did not have anything to do with my favorite themes of immigration, travel, and being outside of one's own culture.  The Ever After of Ashwin Rao, by Padma Viswanathan, did, with a very interesting spin on these concepts.  

A long, long time ago ... (seems like a hundred years or more) ... I got my master's degree in English literature with visions of going on for a Ph.D. so that I could teach, write, and research.  My plan was to specialize in American literature, focusing on the question of how long must a writer actually "be" American in order to have his or her writing be viewed as American.  Where exactly is that fuzzy line between being American and other-than-American; what makes a work of literature American or not; how does our concept of American literature take into account that Americans come from all corners of the world and that, of course, their writing encompasses concepts, values, ideas, and experiences that originate and germinate in other places and cultures?  I still love that concept and am sometimes wistful about that road not taken.  My friend and JMU professor has focused her career on border literature, mainly the U.S.-Mexico border and, I believe, similar examination of how the themes that show up in literature represent the disparate yet overlapping cultural concepts that define who we are when we say we are "American," "Mexican," or in the case of this novel, "Canadian" or "Indian."  So fascinating.

The Ever After of Ashwin Rao tells the story of a Canadian airplane that explodes over the ocean while carrying a plane full of people to India.  All of the passengers are of Indian descent, but most are long-time residents or citizens of Canada.  Many, especially the young ones, identify only with Canada, with India as just a hazy sense of heritage and family but not tangibly of their own lives.  The explosion is eventually traced back to an extremist group in India, an act of terrorism that had to do political problems in India, and not with Canada or its politics.  

Twenty years later, the event remains unresolved, and the loved ones left behind are doubly victimized: first by terrorists in their native land, and second by the Canadian government's inaction, a collective washing of their hands of a matter they perceived had  had nothing to do with them as a nation or as a people.  Ashwin Rao is a psychologist who, after losing his sister and her children on the plane, sets out to research the experiences of the survivors.  Although named in the title and featured prominently in the plot, Ashwin is not truly the main character.  The story belongs instead to Seth, a professor in Vancouver who has become the de facto caretaker of a friend who lost his wife and son.  Having to step into this role, taking responsibility for someone who has been destroyed by loss and trauma, has impacted every facet of his own life, including his career, his marriage, and his two daughters.  Through Seth's life, just peripherally connected to the terrorist act, Ashwin ... and we along with him ... comes to understand the tragedy's aftermath and what it says about belonging, loyalty, and patriotism.  

Cameroon: Behold the Dreamers

Behold the Dreamers

by Imbolo Mbue

Behold the Dreamers is primarily set in the United States, but tells the tale of two young immigrants who come to New York full of hope for their future and who ultimately learn to love and respect their home country of Cameroon.  This is the reverse of the main focus of my blog; instead of the American experience abroad, it tells of the foreigners' experience of America, a country they alternately idealize and disparage.  As the story progresses, they shift from fully denigrating their homeland of Cameroon to slowly coming to appreciate their families, their history, their culture, and their way of life.  It is a classic tale of "all that glitters is not gold" and a deconstructing of the notion that "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."  Throughout, the characters ... Jende and Neni from Cameroon, Clark and Cindy who employ them in the United States, and a cast of immigrant characters from many places around the world ... are thoroughly delightful, earnest, and funny.  

Having the unexpected luck of receiving a visitor's visa to the United States, Jende comes first to seek his fortune, moves into a group home with other immigrants, and immediately overstays so he can earn and save enough to bring his family.  Two years later, his wife Neni and their little boy arrive.  Enamored with New York City and all of its promises, they dream of beating the immigration authorities at their own game and finding a way to stay permanently.  When Jende lands a job as a chauffeur for a Clark Edwards, a Wall Street executive, it seems their dreams will come true.  The Edwards family seems to have it all ... money, education, prestige, glamour, a beautiful home, an active social life, and two children.  In stark contrast, Jende and Neni have so little ... a tiny, one bedroom, cockroach infested apartment in a dangerous neighborhood; long hours in their workdays; constant financial worries: and no sense of security or permanent.  But as Jende and Neni become involved and entangled with the Edwards's personal lives, they realize that beneath the glittering facade lies much pain, disappointment, and sadness. 

This serves as a clear metaphor for perceptions of the United States and its proverbial streets paved with gold that are really substandard housing, low pay, heartbreaking sacrifice, and oftentimes, little reward for those who come in search of a better life.  Yet, the dream still exists, and those who are willing to work hard are often lucky enough to find a leg up to opportunity.  Jende and Neni are very willing, but their luck runs out when the recession hits and Jende is faced with a decision for which there no good outcome.  Throughout the story, Mbue weaves a critique of how we treat immigrants in this country and of how much we, as Americans, take for granted about our lives of good fortune.  Jende and Neni learn that there is more to life than what they ultimately find in the United States.  

Cameroon looms large in the story, almost functioning as a character by informing who Jende and Neni are, what they seek, and where they eventually land both physically and morally.  Although very little of the plot takes place in Cameroon, I finished the book feeling that I had at least a little sense of who Cameroon may be.  Just as in the United States ... and any other country in the world ... there is positive and negative, something to be despised and much to be cherished.