Inside these double-storey brick-veneer houses, countless silent women were sitting at their dining tables. I realised then that it was the same everywhere. It was spring Down Under, but my grandmother lived in constant fear that I would freeze like the communist peasants from the Middle Kingdom she had left over half a century ago. All this clothing made my arms stick out from my sides as if I were a penguin. Underneath, my grandmother had made me wear my flannel pyjama top and thermal tights. It was kindergarten photo day and I had been bundled into my pale-blue padded Mao suit with the frog fastenings. Unpolished Gem is a moving, vivid journey about identity and the ultimate search for acceptance and healing, delivered by a writer possessed of rare empathy, penetrating insight, and undeniable narrative gifts. A boy is like a gem – the more you polish it, the more it shines.” Alice’s memoir shows us the depths of beauty and untapped potential hidden just beneath the surface. There is a Cambodian saying that states, “A girl is like white cotton wool – once dirtied it can never be clean again. With wisdom beyond her years and a keen eye for comedy in everyday life, she writes of the trials of assimilation and cultural misunderstanding, and of the tender but fraught relationships between three generations of women trying to live the Australian dream without losing themselves. In this lyrical, bittersweet debut memoir – already hailed with several prestigious awards – Alice grows up straddling two worlds, East and West, her insular family and the Australia outside. Her father chose her name because he thought their new country was a Wonderland. Product Description (from the back cover):Īlice Pung’s family fled the killing fields of Cambodia, arriving in Australia with only one empty suitcase and Alice in her mother’s womb.
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