How Much of These Hills Is Gold is a beautifully written, sweeping Western epic. But it's also so much more than that. It's a meditation on the meaning of family and home as seen through the lens of the early U.S. Chinese immigrant experience.

I was totally engrossed and loved every minute of it.

Zhang's prose reminded me a lot of Karen Russell. Specifically Swamplandia. Like Swamplandia, this is a mostly tragic story about family dynamics set in a real place. Not only that but Zhang's descriptions of the land and people have the same dreamy magical realism elements that you would find in a Russell story. (Basically, I'm a huge fan of Russell and now I'm a huge fan of Zhang as well!)

If you like magical realism, sibling dynamics, and historical epics... read How Much of These Hills is Gold ASAP!