River to the east, river to the west

Shanghai, 2007: Fourteen-year-old Alva is the daughter of an American immigrant and a Chinese father she has never met. She has always longed for something more and is convinced a better life awaits her in the United States. But when her mother announces her engagement to their wealthy Chinese landlord, Alva’s hopes are dashed. And so, she moves on to the second item on her priority list: enrolling in the American school in Shanghai. Upon admission, however, she is surprised to discover a world run by an exclusive community of Western migrants, not to mention the ever-wilder thrills in a city where foreigners can seemingly do whatever they please.

1985: In the coastal city of Qingdao lives Lu Fang, a young, low-ranking official at the local port. He once dreamed of a bright future, but he, along with many others, fell victim to harsh political reforms. So when China opens its gates to the first wave of foreigners in decades, Lu Fang’s world is shaken to its core. A relationship with an American woman forces him to ask uncomfortable questions about his station in life and how much one must do for it to finally be enough.

Set against the backdrop of China’s political history and economic rise, River East, River West is both an intimate family drama and a sharp social novel that takes the traditional story of Eastern immigrants in the West and stunningly turns it on its head. It is a deeply moving reflection on questions of race and class, cultural identity and belonging, and the often-false promise of the American dream.