Mott Street

Ava Chin's Mott Street is a sweeping narrative history that delves into the Chinese Exclusion Act through the intimate, multi-generational story of a single family's journey to America. Tracing her family's roots from the mid-nineteenth century on the transcontinental railroad, Ava Chin sifts through the stories of the forbearers who maintained their identities against the backdrop of brutal racism in frontier towns. In New York's Chinatown, Chin uncovers a legacy of exclusion and resilience against the weight of exclusion laws. Mott Street is an engrossing read that illuminates the American experience, past and present.