Straw Dogs of the Universe

A Novel

By: Ye Chun

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medals of Excellence

A harrowing and redemptive immigrant story for readers of Pachinko

A Chinese railroad worker and his young daughter—sold into servitude—in 19th century California search for family, fulfillment, and belonging in a violent new land

"Heaven and earth do not pick and choose.
They see everything as straw dogs."

A sweeping historical novel of the American West from the little-seen perspective of those who helped to build it, Straw Dogs of the Universe traces the story of one Chinese father and his young daughter, desperate to find him against all odds.

After her village is devastated by famine, 10-year-old Sixiang is sold to a human trafficker for a bag of rice and six silver coins. Her mother is reluctant to let her go, but the promise of a better life for her beloved daughter ultimately sways her. Arriving in America with the profits from her sale and a single photograph of Guifeng, her absent father, Sixiang journeys across an unfamiliar American landscape in the hopes of reuniting her family.

As she makes her way through an unforgiving new world, her father, a railroad worker in California, finds his attempts to build a life for himself both upended and defined by along-lost love and the seemingly inescapable violence of the American West. A generational saga ranging from the villages of China to the establishment of the transcontinental railroad and the anti-Chinese movement in California, Straw Dogs of the Universe considers the tenacity of family ties and the courage it takes to survive in a country that rejects you, even as it relies upon your labor.

©2023 Ye Chun. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Nancy Wu brings emotion and depth to this sweeping saga, which follows generations of Chinese immigrants, male and female, through multiple trials in the American West.… Wu's talent allows the listener to stay in the story as she portrays each character with a distinct voice. Wu poignantly shares the tragedy of finding oneself laboring for a country that hates one's race.… Listeners will find this glimpse of American history challenging and meaningful.”—AudioFile Magazine

“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. A moving portrait of a fraught time in U.S. history. Share with readers of Jenny Tinghui Zhang's Four Treasures of the Sky or Lisa Ko's The Leavers.”—Library Journal

"A wondrous first novel. Here her exquisite chapters could easily stand alone but, interlinked, they create an intricate mosaic gloriously revealing intertwined lives . . . Ye offers another haunting, edifying, and illuminating literary feast."—Booklist (starred review)