audiobook Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour by William C. Davis in History

Description

When she was five years old; M. Elaine Mar and her mother emigrated from Hong Kong to Denver to join her father in a community more Chinese than American; more hungry than hopeful. While working with her family in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant and living in the basement of her aunt's house; Mar quickly masters English and begins to excel in school. But as her home and school life--Chinese tradition and American independence--become two increasingly disparate worlds; Mar tries desperately to navigate between them. Adolescence and the awakening of her sexuality leave Elaine isolated and confused. She yearns for storebought clothes and falls for a red-haired boy who leads her away from the fretful eyes of her family. In his presence; Elaine is overcome by the strength of her desire--blocking out her family's visions of an arranged marriage in Hong Kong. From surviving racist harassment in the schooIyard to trying to flip her straight hair like Farrah Fawcett; from hiding her parents' heritage to arriving alone at Harvard University; Mar's story is at once an unforgettable personal journey and an unflinching; brutal look at the realities of the American Dream.