BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK OBAMA 2021 BOOK PICK and INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERHunger was a constant reliable friend in Mei Guo. She came second only to loneliness. In China she was the daughter of professors. In Brooklyn her family is illegal. Qian is just seven when she moves to America the Beautiful Country where she and her parents find that the roads of New York City are not paved with gold but crushing fear and scarcity. Unable to speak English at first Qian and her parents must work wherever they can to survive all while she battles hunger and loneliness at school. Thus begins an extraordinary story that describes in vivid colours days labouring in sweatshops and sushi factories nights scavenging the streets for furniture and the terrifying moment when the family emerges from the shadows to seek emergency medical treatment for Qians mother. Qian Julie Wangs memoir is an unforgettable account of what it means to live under the perpetual threat of deportation and the small joys and sheer determination that kept her family afloat in a new land. Told from a childs perspective in a voice that is intimate poignant and startlingly lyrical Beautiful Country is the story of a girl who learns first to live and then escape an invisible life.A powerful gripping insight into the world of an undocumented migrant in New York . . . beautifully written with vivid scenes that linger in the mind long after finishing it Helena MerrimanA story that needs to be heard. Moving beautiful heartbreaking and even funny . . . I never wanted it to end Philippa PerryDeeply compelling . . . I was moved by the love and resilience of this family thrust into darkness. The book casts an urgent light on a reality that extends way beyond Americas borders Hisham Matar author of A Month in Siena and The ReturnAstonishing . . . In restrained but beautiful prose Wang honours her familys sacrifices but alerts us to the urgent realisation that they should not be necessary Nesrine Malik