Madeline
How Much Of These Hills Is Gold starts with the wild west and two young Chinese girls, Lucy and Sam, are found on their own with no parental guidance, and as we find out later, this is not the beginning of never a happy moment. Between the time with their parents and the time they spend after they are gone, there is never a happy moment. Because they are gold prospectors daughters, they were raised to be tough. And because of the same, they were never intended to be happy.
Premise of How Much of These Hills Is Gold
The book is broken into three and a half parts. The first part is about the two girls directly after their father dies. They live a nomadic lifestyle carrying their dead father’s body in search of a place to lay him to rest. There is not much description about how he died or where their mother was. There is a lot of hinting at a past, but the past is very unclear in this first part.
The next part is about their lives with both their parents. Their father working in the mines. Dragging the family from mine to mine, each time with promises of riches. At one point, they finally make enough money for the girls to attend school, which Lucy loves and Sam hates. But of course, there is never a happy moment in this book and it doesn’t last long.
The next part is the half. It is an extended chapter about the parents before Sam and Lucy. where they came from. How they met. How they grew closer together. Although the chapter is long, it could have been it’s own book and therefore is very accelerated.
The final part is years after the girl’s father has died and they are no longer girls. They split ways, but in the final chapters, find their way back to each other. Throughout the book, there is talk of going back to China and they decide this is what they want to do next; however, there is never a happy moment in this book, and the road back is a tough one.
A Word About The Writing
The writing in this book is very cryptic. For one, there are a lot of Mandarin Chinese words, and in one case, a few sentences. These words were not intended to be understood by the English speaking reader, but because I speak basic Mandarin Chinese (thanks to apps and a few podcasts), I understood a majority of them. I’m not sure how I would feel about these words if I didn’t understand them. If they enhanced my experience or hindered it.
One of the toughest things I had with reading this book was understanding what was metaphor and what was intended to be real. Perhaps that was the intention, to almost create a fantasy world of the Wild West. However, I found it difficult to picture the story in my mind.
Chinese During The Wild West
I admire this book for showing a part of the west during this time period no one ever focuses on. In the movies, there may be a few Chinese people in the background. They are typically the working force, but rarely is the story focused around them and what they go through. I can honestly say, this is the first story I have ever read or watched, where a movie based on this time period in the United States was focused on Chinese people. And it does change the story than if they were white people.
Final Thoughts
This book is nowhere near the top of my favorites, but I don’t regret reading it. It was extremely depressing and at times difficult to read. Just when the story starts to lift up, it comes crashing right back down as there is never a happy moment. I will say, I read through the last half in less than a day, which I rarely do these days. Once the story picked up, I could not put it down.
