A River Of Stars

A River of Stars, by Vanessa Hua, focuses on Scarlett Chen, a Chinese factory worker who is pregnant and is sent to Los Angeles into a clandestine maternity home by her employer, who is also her married lover. Scarlett, then, is to be hidden until birth, so the child will automatically have US citizenship. However, Scarlett runs away when she realizes a betrayal and takes another pregnant woman, Daisy, along with her. The two of them went on this huge journey across California, battling issues as diverse as cultural identity, parenting, and the American dream. Taken as a whole, the novel tries to say something about immigration, resilience, and seeking a better life amidst abundant opportunities and dangers.

What attracted me to the novel was how well A River of Stars captured the depressions and wills of Chinese immigrant families living in California's Central Valley. It somehow made one feel more relatable, as Hua went on detailing the lives of all these residents, describing the claustrophobic living setups and the physically tiring work in the fields, which turned out to be very startling and an eye-opener. The struggles of the characters to get accustomed to this new life in America were something I just loved. It is that intricate portrait of identity, culture, and belonging amid these very different realities about the so-called American dream. Scarlett is a strong, relentless leader, and her relationships with her friend Daisy and her daughter are very real and affectionate; their stories run together easily to bring out a full tapestry of experience. Besides raising some very significant questions of exploitation, class, and social justice, the book allowed for a greater understanding on my part of the many sacrifices made by immigrant labor.