Straw Dogs of the Universe

Poet, short story writer, and translator Ye (Hao) opens her first novel in 1876 in southern China, as thousands of young Chinese villagers are fleeing flood, civil war, and famine to seek a better life in California’s Gold Mountain, where they hope to strike it rich. The story follows 10-year-old Sixiang, who is sold to a human trafficker and is soon put on a ship headed for California. Like many of her compatriots, Sixiang soon discovers that California is anything but paradise. She navigates a racist and dangerous landscape, intent on finding her father, Guifeng, a railroad worker. Ye’s historical fiction reveals the bitter hardship, horrific violence, abusive white bosses, brothel work, sexual assault, and opium addiction that Chinese immigrants endured, while also validating the contributions that they made in the 19th-century American West. Narrator Nancy Wu is a consummate storyteller, skillfully escorting listeners through the miseries experienced by many Chinese immigrants. With varied character voices and changes in inflection, Wu effectively reflects the characters’ different personalities, thoughts, attitudes, and emotions.