Sweet Mandarin: The Courageous True Story of Three Generations of Chinese Women and Their Journey from East to West

For Lily Kwok the world did not seem to offer much hope. In addition to being a female in a male-dominated society, she was also born into a severely poverty stricken village in rural China. In 1918, there didn't seem to be much of a chance for a different life. SWEET MANDARIN is the story of how three generations of women, beginning with Lily, made their way out of the oppressive confines of culture and poverty to become successful businesswomen in their own right. Lily was born in a small farming village near Guangzhou. She had one thing that many other young girls of the time didn't-- a father who cherished his daughters. He also had the desire to provide a better life for his family and set about to improve their lives by making and selling soy sauce. While Leung was very successful, he also drew the envy of others in his village. Before he had the opportunity to secure a completely comfortable life for his family, Leung was murdered, leaving his wife and daughters to the mercy of family. Lily worked hard to help provide for her mother, sisters, and eventually her own husband and children. Through a twist of fate, Lily had the chance to make a difficult choice for her family. She would follow her employer to England, and be away from her children, in order to secure them a better future in the West. When Mabel and her brother, Arthur, finally joined their mother, Lily, in England, they were strangers to both the country and their own mother. Lily opened a take-out restaurant in Manchester. Not only were they the only Chinese family in the neighborhood, they also offered a service that nobody else did-- a fast, affordable, and tasty meal that could be taken home to the family. The work was hard and the hours long and Mabel learned the skills and recipes that she would one day pass on to her own daughters. Helen and her sisters grew up under the wings of both Lily and their mother, Mabel. The two generations of women that preceded them gave them opportunities that a young Lily may have only dreamed of. Helen grew up to go to an ivy-league school and become a lawyer, and her sisters shared similar successes. But they found that their heritage called to them and they opened Sweet Mandarin, a restaurant that serves the recipes that guided the lives of all three generations of successful, Chinese women. SWEET MANDARIN is an inspirational account that proves that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles like poverty, murder, addiction, and oppression, if you have the determination, you can achieve your dreams. Reviewed by: JodiG.

This was a wonderful biography/autobiography of three generations of Chinese women and their stories of working as restaurateurs in England. Helen Tse is a great writer and the stories she shares are interesting, poignant and quite captivating. With her vivid descriptions, sights and sounds jump off the pages and the book is equally filled with smells and tastes that leave readers as hungry for Tse's recipes as for her prose! I would highly recommend this book to fans of Amy Tan novels, as the multi-generational story is similar to much of her work, but I enjoyed Sweet Mandarin all the more because it is nonfiction.

For Lily Kwok the world did not seem to offer much hope. In addition to being a female in a male-dominated society, she was also born into a severely poverty stricken village in rural China. In 1918, there didn't seem to be much of a chance for a different life. SWEET MANDARIN is the story of how three generations of women, beginning with Lily, made their way out of the oppressive confines of culture and poverty to become successful businesswomen in their own right. Lily was born in a small farming village near Guangzhou. She had one thing that many other young girls of the time didn't-- a father who cherished his daughters. He also had the desire to provide a better life for his family and set about to improve their lives by making and selling soy sauce. While Leung was very successful, he also drew the envy of others in his village. Before he had the opportunity to secure a completely comfortable life for his family, Leung was murdered, leaving his wife and daughters to the mercy of family. Lily worked hard to help provide for her mother, sisters, and eventually her own husband and children. Through a twist of fate, Lily had the chance to make a difficult choice for her family. She would follow her employer to England, and be away from her children, in order to secure them a better future in the West. When Mabel and her brother, Arthur, finally joined their mother, Lily, in England, they were strangers to both the country and their own mother. Lily opened a take-out restaurant in Manchester. Not only were they the only Chinese family in the neighborhood, they also offered a service that nobody else did-- a fast, affordable, and tasty meal that could be taken home to the family. The work was hard and the hours long and Mabel learned the skills and recipes that she would one day pass on to her own daughters. Helen and her sisters grew up under the wings of both Lily and their mother, Mabel. The two generations of women that preceded them gave them opportunities that a young Lily may have only dreamed of. Helen grew up to go to an ivy-league school and become a lawyer, and her sisters shared similar successes. But they found that their heritage called to them and they opened Sweet Mandarin, a restaurant that serves the recipes that guided the lives of all three generations of successful, Chinese women. SWEET MANDARIN is an inspirational account that proves that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles like poverty, murder, addiction, and oppression, if you have the determination, you can achieve your dreams. Reviewed by: JodiG.

In Sweet Mandarin, Helen Tse gives us the intelligent multi-generational saga of three enterprising and resourceful Chinese women who faced incredible odds to make their dreams and fortunes come to fruition. The story begins with Lily, Helen's grandmother, in a rural village in China. Facing incredible poverty and with a family to provide for, Lilly's father, Leung, has the initiative to break away from his traditional role as a farmer and strikes out to create his own business, which soon begins to prosper. Moving his family from the destitute village to the more bustling city of Hong Kong, Lily and her family seem to be moving upwards. Then an unspeakable tragedy occurs, leaving the family penniless and at the mercy of inhospitable relatives. Lily realizes the situation she and her family face and searches for employment as a housemaid to the affluent British expatriates in China. Soon Lily immigrates to Britain and restarts her life as a small business owner, the proprietor of a Chinese restaurant. Through the struggles of operating the business and raising her children alone, Tse acquaints us with this remarkably strong woman who must face overwhelming trials in order to give herself and her children a better life. The story continues through the tale of Mabel, Lily's daughter, who is raised mostly in Britain, working long hours from childhood at her mother's restaurant counter. Eventually, Mabel takes up the family business and creates her own Chinese restaurant with her husband Eric. Interspersed with these two women's stories is the story of Helen, Mabel's daughter. Helen begins her career as lawyer but ultimately finds her happiness in opening her own Chinese restaurant, Sweet Mandarin, from which the title of the book is based. In elegant prose, the three women's stories are woven together to create a beautiful tapestry of a bold and valiant family of women who never let their struggles get the best of them. Of the stories in this book, Lily's was featured most heavily. We see the whole picture of her life, from her humbling situation as a child to her rise as a beloved housemaid, the triumphs and ordeals are painted with compelling energy. I was particularly struck by her forced involvement in the Japanese occupation of China in the 1940's, and her eventual departure from China, where she left her family while she built a new life for them. Though sometimes reserved in her expressions of love for her children, her outward resolve to give them a more hopeful future was inspiring. Sometimes it seemed as though she was a tough nut to crack, but in reality, had she not had the boldness to act as she did, her family might not have survived some of the situations that they faced. Some parts of Lily's story were more difficult to digest, for Lily was not always the admirable woman that some would wish she would be. The situations regarding the loss of her first restaurant were upsetting, but I appreciated the author's candor in addressing the

Sweet Mandarin, by Helen Tse, is a classic in the making. This is her first book, and Tse gives us a touching view of the life of a Chinese-British family. Its mainly about her grandmother, Lily Kwok whose life has been a rollercoaster of ups and down - including murder, adoption, poverty, bankruptcy, working as a maid, dealing with a deadbeat husband and being separated from her children. I loved the detail - from how the Chinese in feudal China used to cook, to the post war Britain scenes with the rickety old Ford bouncing down the cobbled streets. Helen weaves a wonderful story - which often is so visual, that I had pangs of hunger and could imagine the book being adapted to the movies. I found a lot of Helen's insightful comments true to any immigrant, even if you weren't Chinese. The Chinese quotes were a great touch. This is truly a five star wonder and I'd recommend this book highly.