We talk about C Pam Zhang’s stunning debut about two young orphans surviving in the twilight of the American Gold Rush.
This book takes some reading and the podcast is mainly Hajar rambling her way through how she felt about it, but we highly recommend you get yourself a copy.
It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s an absolute work of art.
We discuss the usual topics of identity and class with a healthy dose of swearing but unfortunately there’s just the one disappointingly flat one-star review.
Great news for the author, not so good for us.
Publisher’s Blurb
America. In the twilight of the Gold Rush, two siblings cross a landscape with a gun in their hands and the body of their father on their backs . . .
Ba dies in the night, Ma is already gone. Lucy and Sam, twelve and eleven, are suddenly alone and on the run. With their father’s body on their backs, they roam an unforgiving landscape dotted with giant buffalo bones and tiger paw prints, searching for a place to give him a proper burial.
How Much of These Hills is Gold is a sweeping adventure tale, an unforgettable sibling story and a remarkable novel about a family bound and divided by its memories.
Read the book, listen to the podcast, and tell us what you think.
Listen now: