'A River Of Stars' Is An Asian-American, 'Pregnant Thelma & Louise'
Vanessa Hua's debut novel follows two women at a secret California maternity center where rich Chinese send expectant mothers to give birth to U.S. citizens. Then they run away.
A River of Stars is a kind of road story.
Scarlett, a factory worker from China, and Daisy, a Taiwanese-American teenager, go on the lam. They're fleeing Perfume Bay, a secret home in Los Angeles where pregnant women from China are sent — by rich husbands, married lovers or prosperous parents — to give birth such that their babies may enjoy "the most precious gift of all": U.S. citizenship.
