A Free Life by Ha Jin

I remember liking Ha Jin's Waiting (although I can't remember what it was about other than something relating to a ponytail) so when I saw this on the shelf I picked it up. I didn't even notice until now that it was a book about freedom and I was reading it during Passover.


The book is about a young family who immigrate from China to the United States and what their first decade or so is like in the U.S. I was enthralled by the story and the decisions they faced. It is probably the best book I've read in a long time that gave me a window into a particular 'universe' so elegantly. I learned a lot about the economics of starting over in a new country, and especially enjoyed the sections about their owning a Chinese restaurant in Atlanta.



I did not think the writing was as good as it could have been, although the story was, but that may have been intentional since the main characters' first language is not English. Aside from finding the style simplistic and lacking in physical details in places, the book was intriguing.