Xixi Tian Explores Grief, Immigration and Family Secrets in 'All the Way Around the Sun'

In All the Way Around the Sun, writer and lawyer Xixi Tian writes a coming-of-age novel centered around family, loss, and the journey of finding our identity in a new home. Set in both China and the United States, the story follows Stella Chan, a Chinese immigrant living in Illinois, who is coping with the death of her older brother who passed away unexpectedly at college a year ago. Devastated by his loss, her family decides to move to California to make a fresh start. Once there, Stella starts applying for colleges, but struggles with an irrational fear of dying while at college like her brother did. However, a road trip with someone from her past helps her deal with her grief and allows her to begin moving forward. In regards to the premise, which aspects of All the Way Around the Sun were autobiographical and inspired by Tian’s own experiences? She explained that just like Stella, she also immigrated to the United States from China at a young age, and many of the feelings and emotions that Stella felt were similar to how Tian herself felt during her teenage years.

As far as the immigrant experience, Tian noted that migrant families may feel some level of displacement about their identity especially when they grow up in a community that offers little connection to the traditions of their homeland. She reflected on how difficult immigrating to America must have been for her parents and their friends. “I have vast amounts of respect for my parents and their friends who came to the United States to build a life that would be easier for obviously our generation and I think that in many ways, we feel endlessly indebted to them for that decision and I think Stella feels that too in the story where she feels like… my parents did so much and how could I make this worthwhile for them… I think just by watching the immense amounts of sacrifices that they’ve made, you feel that you have to make it worthwhile to them in some way because it’s just incredible for them to [have] been able to do that.”