From China to Canada
by
Wong Guey Dang had to pay a $500 head tax when he came to Canada because he was Chinese. When he returned to China to marry, his wife, Jiang Tew Thloo, could not accompany him back to Canada because by 1923, the country had shut the doors to Chinese immigration. The couple was forced to live separate lives during the first half of their fifty year marriage. The book chronicles their lives within the context of local and international historical events over a hundred-year period.
During the years the couple was apart, Ah Thloo had a lot of time to relive their wedding night and the subsequent events. Had she married the right man? It was easy to dwell on the past, easy to stay hurt and rub old wounds until they were raw. It was hard to understand another person, especially when you didn't know anything about him. How do you build a life with a stranger who is living continents away? Still, she recognized that her life had changed, much for the better, because of her marriage.
READ MOREWhat about their relationship; how had it happened? She had been afraid when she first met him. She knew only that he lived in Gim San and was older than she was by nine years. Then his hands lifted the heavy wedding veil from her face, and there he was! His smile was shy, but the warmth in his eyes suggested he was genuinely happy to meet her. But he was so different that first night - the memories from her wedding night still made her angry. She still could not refer to him by name without being reminded of that pain and disappointment. All she could hope for was that he would live up to the meaning of his new name, Libp Thlange, Establish Faith.
COLLAPSECanadian Literature on Amazon Books wrote:"A Cowherd in Paradise is a fascinating read. As I progressed through the book I had to remind myself that the people I was reading about were real as were their life struggles. Last winter I read "The Kite Runner" and although a novel it gave me an insight into the daily life of individuals in their homeland and the sacrifices they endured. A real eyeopener A Cowherd in Paradise did the same thing for me. Truly thought provoking. I was taken with Ms.Wong's mother and her path in life and what she endured. She surely was a great lady. I found Ms.Wong had a way in her writing that put you right there in the story. Looking forward to her future books. Good luck. Ms. Wong."
"May Q. Wong's A Cowherd in Paradise: From China to Canada was reviewed along side Vincent Lam's The Headmaster's Wager (Random House). Canadian Literature said that they both "offer nothing less than a Canadian ethnic and multicultural history, in which the changing social image of Chineseness is embodied in the existential shifting of individual and family identity."
