Etta is a 37-year-old Burmese-American lawyer living in Boston with her fiancé Jason. When readers meet her, she is mourning the loss of her grandmother, or Ahpwa. When Etta comes across treasured items while going through her belongings, the memories come flooding back and pull Etta in a direction she never wanted to go. The Golden Land by debut author Elizabeth Shick is a compelling story that crosses generations and regions, as Etta comes to terms with her cultural identity and how to reconcile two completely different parts of herself. 

Etta is the daughter of a Burmese mother and American father (both now deceased). Yet, Ahpwa was the matriarch of the family and ran the household. Consequently, she held regular Burmese lessons with Etta, teaching her the language and culture from a young age. When Ahpwa insists that 12-year-old Etta and her family go to Burma for a year, Etta meets her extended family, including her second cousin Schwe and his grandfather, “The General.” For the first three months, Etta and Schwe become two peas in a pod, spending everyday together exploring Yangon. One day while out in the city, they participate in a protest that turns deadly. Etta and Schwe witness the horrible violence as military officers attack unarmed protesters, leaving them both traumatized from that day on. That is the last day Etta and Schwe see each other until 25 years later.

At 12 years old, Etta doesn’t fully understand her family’s involvement in the political unrest that occurred during that time. Additionally, Ahpwa’s cultural pride does a 180 as she eliminates all instances of Burmese culture upon their return to America. So Etta spends the following years believing it was her fault that her family had to return home. From then on, she keeps those two parts of herself separate. When Ahpwa dies, Parker returns to Myanmar and takes her ashes with her, believing that’s where she belongs. Etta, on the other hand, struggles with which path she must take going forward. Ultimately she decides to join her sister across the world to “The Golden Land” to confront her trauma and figure out the person she wants to be. 

I absolutely loved this story. Shick is a talented writer, expertly weaving one narrative between the past and the present, between Burma and Boston. She manages to beautifully illustrate the connections between regret and love, military rule and the fight for justice, and the struggle of choosing what to hold on to and what to let go. She is emotional in her storytelling, pulling the readers in and not letting them go until the very end. I wanted to know which side of herself Etta would choose – her well-established life in Boston with her fiancé, or to forge a new life in Myanmar with her remaining family? At times I thought I knew which life she would choose. But Shick kept me guessing, and I loved every moment. I cannot believe that The Golden Land is her first novel. 

Elizabeth Shick joins our guest list for a Cantina Conversation. She talks about her fascinating journey while writing this story, and the biggest lessons learned as a debut author. Keep an ear out for an upcoming episode of The Nerd Cantina Show podcast and preorder The Golden Land, available December 6.