On Gold Mountain

The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family

By: Lisa See

Narrated by: Kate Reading

From the bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women, here is the true story of the one-hundred-year-odyssey of the author’s Chinese-American family, combining years of research with “fascinating family anecdotes, imaginative details, and the historical details of immigrant life” (Amy Tan, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club).

"As engagingly readable as any novel." —Los Angeles Times Book Review

In 1867, Lisa See's great-great-grandfather arrived in America, where he prescribed herbal remedies to immigrant laborers who were treated little better than slaves. His son Fong See later built a mercantile empire and married a Caucasian woman, in spite of laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Lisa herself grew up playing in her family's antiques store in Los Angeles's Chinatown, listening to stories of missionaries and prostitutes, movie stars and Chinese baseball teams.

See’s family history encompasses secret marriages, entrepreneurial genius, romance, racism, and much more, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world in this “lovingly rendered…vivid tableau of a family and an era” (People).

Critic reviews

"Astonishing ... A comprehensive and exhaustively researched account of a Chinese-American family ... that juggles such explosive elements as race, class, tradition, prejudice, poverty, and great wealth in new and relatively unexpected combinations." —The Los Angeles Times

“Terrific stuff…. The See family’s adventures would be incredible if On Gold Mountain were fiction.” —The New York Times Book Review

Too much like a documentary history book

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

More like a text book than a novel. Interesting, but I was looking more for a story.

Was On Gold Mountain worth the listening time?

I didn't finish.

Good book. Solid Story.

While at times slow, this story was interesting and tells the true story of a family who lived during such an interesting time. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Amazing 👍👍

Amazing story and detail. It shows us how the US government has been a races from day one!

Superb history of Lisa See’s Chinese Family

A wonderful “visual” reading. See is such an excellent storyteller. Captures life through several generations

documentary writing

Insights onto the lives of Chinese in the USA. Detailed research. A fascinating story of a family tree. But I really missed Lisa See's enchanting language which she is so good with! Of course, one has to remember that this is more like a documentary work of literature, not a novel.