In Straw Shoes, Mathias B. Freese tells the story of Ah Ling, a 19th-century Chinese farmer who gambles with Fate and leaves his fields for the brutal promise of Gold Rush–era San Francisco. He trades yielding soil for unyielding granite—farming rock instead of rice, survival instead of certainty.
But this is more than a tale of immigration and hardship. It is a meditation on duality: soil and stone, anchor and ascent, softness and strength. As the Tao Te Ching teaches, the weak may overcome the strong; the humble earth may outlast defiant rock. Restless and yearning for completion, Ah learns instead that life is accretion—laying track piece by piece, being rather than becoming.
Rich with Freese’s signature dialogues, mentor pairings, and metaphysical turns, Straw Shoes speaks in a voice both youthful and ancient. Written across decades—by the man Freese was and the elder he became—this final work resonates with hard-won wisdom. The farmer who hews cliffs mirrors the author who has weathered time: softer in insight, harder in truth.
Spare, symbolic, and deeply human, Straw Shoes is a powerful farewell from a singular literary voice—one that still speaks, long after the last page.
Reviews
“Freese delicately embroiders Ah Ling’s inner turmoil with visceral emotion and candor. The central character’s ontological unease is a sharply relatable and enduring concept, and Freese has placed it within a wondrously imagined framework…. Flawlessly edited, Straw Shoes is a hauntingly beautiful little novel written with mesmerizing clarity. Brilliantly wrought, finely calibrated, and gossamer-layered, Freese’s decision to finalize and publish this novel was a shining one, securing its place in the Freese canon as, quite possibly, its magnum opus.”
– Rose Auburn
“Mathias B. Freese’s Straw Shoes is a remarkable literary achievement that transcends the boundaries of historical fiction to become something far more profound. It is a meditation on duality, resilience, and the eternal human struggle between surrender and defiance. Freese, a teacher, psychotherapist, and author of ten books, has crafted what may very well be his finest work to date, a novel that speaks in a voice both youthful and ancient, shaped by decades of introspection and hard-won wisdom.”
– Noémie Media
“Having read and been continually impressed with almost all of Mathias’ books, it is refreshing to enter his thoughts anew in what may just his finest work to date. Reading this fine novel reminds us of the profound depth of intelligence that is Mathias Freese. His eloquent words are never presumptuous or distancing, but instead invite us into the sphere of his insightful mind, a jurisdiction that becomes a golden opportunity to engage and be in his moment. Mathias is wise, thoughtful, inspiring – and a very fine writer. This is a gentle masterwork!”
– Grady Harp
“Freese dives deep into his characters, explores the humanity there, and shows what humankind is capable of when faced with adversity…. I was so impressed with the author’s ability to put the reader back in time and have them feel what Ah goes through as he works as a Chinese immigrant during the gold rush days in California. The author’s knowledge and research shine through but never overshadow Ah’s journey to find himself.”
– Diana Stevan