This story does not begin on a boat. So commences Alice Pung''s memoir. This is an original take on a classic story how a child of immigrants moves between two cultures. In place of piety and predictability, however, Unpolished Gemoffers a vivid and ironic sense of both worlds. It combines the story of Pung''s life growing up in suburban Footscray with the inherited stories of the women in her family stories of madness, survival and heartbreak. Original and brave, this is a girl''s own story that introduces an unforgettable voice and captures the experience of Asian immigrants to Australia."