How Much of These Hills Is Gold deconstructs the mythos of the Old West

When reading How Much of These Hills Is Gold, several literary icons might materialize in one’s head. From her Steinbeckian description of the Californian wilderness to the magical realist style recently popularized by Jesmyn Ward, C. Pam Zhang wears her influences on her sleeve. Despite, or perhaps because of her heavy influences, Zhang crafts a tale that elevates Western genre fiction into transformative and metamorphic literature. 

Set against the California gold rush, Zhang focuses on two Asian-American siblings who must travel through the American Frontier to start a new life. Unlike a traditional cowboy narrative, this novel explores the harsh realities of Chinese immigrants and their children during the construction of the transcontinental railroad and the Gold Rush years of American history. How Much of These Hills Is Gold is a stunning piece of writing with complex characters and a rich sense of time and place. Zhang’s care for historical detail and shifting timelines was apparent, as was her adept control of vivid, engaging language.

As they make the arduous journey towards some kind of home, we follow our sibling duo trying to pick themselves up after becoming orphaned. This novel offers no easy answers for us – thematically and narratively – on what a home could be for our protagonists. Nevertheless, they continue on, through the hills, through struggle, through what it means to exist as an outsider.Zhang utilizes the conventions of a historical novel to explore who counts as American and why such distinctions exist while doing an excellent job of telling a heart-wrenching story of a family during the California Gold Rush and their efforts to live instead of simply surviving. Through our protagonists’ journeys of questioning their notions of identity, family, and belonging, How Much of These Hills Is Gold explores the harsh realities of the American West and the immigrant experience, offering a unique and powerful perspective on a familiar historical period.