Sweet Mandarin - A family Autobiography - This book is about my life as a British Born Chinese woman and the lives of my grandmother and mother, three generations of independent women in the restaurant and catering business. Sweet Manderin is in the Northern Quarter, Manchester

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Product Description

Spanning almost a hundred years, this rich and evocative true story recounts the lives of three generations of remarkable Chinese women. Their extraordinary journey takes us from the brutal poverty of village life in mainland China, to newly prosperous 1930s Hong Kong and finally to the UK. Their lives were as dramatic as the times they lived through. A love of food and a talent for cooking pulled each generation through the most devastating of upheavals. Helen Tse's grandmother, Lily Kwok, was forced to work as an amah after the violent murder of her father. Crossing the ocean from Hong Kong in the 1950s, Lily honed her famous chicken curry recipe. Eventually she opened one of Manchester's earliest Chinese restaurants where her daughter, Mabel, worked from the tender age of nine. But gambling and the Triads were pervasive in the Chinese immigrant community, and they tragically lost the restaurant. It was up to Helen and her sisters, the third generation of these exceptional women, to re-establish their grandmother's dream. "Sweet Mandarin" shows how the most important inheritance is wisdom, and how recipes - passed down the female line - can be the most valuable heirloom.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #162003 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Xinran, author of The Good Women of China
"Read this book. It is the story of an amazing family - three
generations of Chinese women and their sweet and sour, hot and bitter
lives"

Ken Hom
"a griping tale of struggle, laughter, love and food...a must read
book."

Woman
"an amazing and charming read"

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Customer Reviews

5 stars
Loved the book. Very easy to read and great sense of humour from the author. I've read a few Chinese books, and its clear that Helen Tse can read and write English fluently - she gets her points and emotion across so well. I was totally gripped by the story (which I heard on Midweek with Libby Purves) and just had to go out to buy the book. The quote "If Heaven Made Him, Earth Can Find Some Use For Him" was very meaningful to me. This family has endured a lot of problems - I'm crossing my fingers that this book does well and will once and for all give them the lucky break they deserve.

brilliant read
I love any books about China and this one did not disappoint. In fact, I was really surprised at the quality of the writing and the story. Usually translations sometimes lose the true meaning or don't have a personality. In this book, Sweet Mandarin, I could actually hear Helen laughing - like in HK when you are in your "I'm Lost in Hong Kong" teeshirts looking like mad golfers - classic. It was a brilliant read. Best book I have read in a long time. You should enter for the prizes next. Keep on with the writing, cooking and enterprising - also browsed your website - excellent.

I love the book Sweet Mandarin
An amazing story of a family who has experienced and risen above the challenges. Can't wait to go visit Sweet Mandarin restaurant.
Helen your family is just amazing i hope to meet them one day in Manchester.