Takeaway: Stories from a childhood behind the counter
£0.90
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORTNUM & MASON DEBUT FOOD BOOK AWARD 2023
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‘A beautiful book: compellingly written, tender and thoughtful’ Ruby Tandoh
‘A warm, incandescent memoir about identity, food, family, relationships’ Annie Lord
Growing up in a Chinese takeaway in rural Wales, Angela Hui was made aware at a very young age of just how different she and her family were seen by her local community. From attacks on the shopfront (in other words, their home), to verbal abuse from customers, and confrontations that ended with her dad wielding the meat cleaver; life growing up in a takeaway was far from peaceful.
But alongside the strife, there was also beauty and joy in the rhythm of life in the takeaway and in being surrounded by the food of her home culture. Family dinners before service, research trips to Hong Kong, preparing for the weekend rush with her brothers – the takeaway is a hive of activity before a customer even places their order of ‘egg-fried rice and chop suey’.
Bringing readers along on the journey from Angela’s earliest memories in the takeaway to her family closing the shop after 30 years in business, this is a brilliantly warm and immersive memoir from someone on the other side of the counter.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Trapeze (21 July 2022) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 7366 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 343 pages |
by elkiedee
A memoir by journalist Angela Hui about growing up living and working in her family’s Chinese takeaway shop in the 1990s. Her parents moved from Hong Kong to Britain in 1985, and opened the Lucky Star takeaway in Beddau, a village in the South Wales valley in 1988. Hui and her brothers grew up over the shop, often doing homework, playing and working hard when needed in the family business from an early age.
This was not an easy life and the demands and concerns of the business took a big toll on family life and relationships. Hours were long and when needed everyone had to pitch in and help on the counter or going out doing deliveries. The family were subjected to a lot of racist abuse, dad had a gambling problem, etc. But there are also some stories of happier moments, of appreciative customers and humour.
Hui includes a few recipes, I think mostly of the food her family cook for themselves – not always the same as what is sold in the takeaway (though the kids do get to tuck in to uncollected food and some edible treats from time to time). Though she went away to university, she travelled back from Cardiff to help out in the business most weekend nights. Hui’s upbringing certainly contained some challenges but Takeaway is no misery memoir – she also includes happier stories of family life and the affection that was there,, school, friends and boyfriends.
I enjoy memoirs of migration, of growing up, of family lives, of work and school, of juggling different lives, and thought this was a good read.
by Lauri Sim
I read this book in one sitting having been dying to read it for a long time. The author’s recollections of at once being one and othered is touching, beautiful and gives an insight into a world not normally experienced by white born British children and teenagers- that of acting as employee, interpreter, assistance, peacemaker while trying to forge one’s own life. A beautiful memoir, I highly recommend.
by A Reader
I found this book an interesting insight into the lives of the Chinese people who own a takeaway. The only part of the book that I didn’t like was the fact that at the end of almost every chapter there was a detailed recipe for Chinese dishes mentioned in the book. Personally, I purchased the book as an autobiography not a cookbook.
by TheUnexpectedItem
I absolutely loved this book. As a mixed race Chinese & white British person born in the U.K. I had family who owned a takeaway up until the early 90s. My Hong Kong-born Dad worked there to help them alongside his day job.
I only ever had little glimpses into their life behind the counter (to me it was all fun and games just popping in to play and eat their wholesale tins of KitKats and cans of 7Up as a child).
This was a really eye opening insight, and a heartfelt one at that, laced with a healthy serving of humour. There’s real highs and lows of emotion in this book, with some shocking moments too. The many varied difficulties of being a minority group, speaking little English with a public-facing shop. It echoed my Dad’s experience of being forced to apply Kung fu skills to defend himself from racist aggressive customers in the 70s & 80s.
Hard to believe the life these many takeaway kids live, attending school all day then coming home to help out working in the family business all evening. Seems like a really challenging existence, and a stressful environment to grow up in, with little to no division between work and home life.
I adore the inclusion of a handful of the author’s favourite authentic Chinese recipes and the simple yet beautiful illustrations that accompany these. I thought this was a unique way for readers to connect with such a book, especially for those who aren’t familiar with “proper” Chinese food aside from the “Chinglish” fare, deliberately created recipes popularised by takeaways to appeal to the local customers. I haven’t cooked any of the food yet but I most certainly will!
by KB
Like Angela, I grew up in a takeaway in a small town but in England where my family were the only Chinese family. I am now a successful professional, seemingly a common outcome of kids growing up in such isolating, different circumstances. My experiences were echoed in this well-written and engaging book. The feelings of shame, not belonging, having two lives. It evoked a lot of memories for me and helped me understand how my experiences paved the way for me to do the many things I have. It also helped me appreciate the positives of a takeaway life. It is a hopeful book. I would have appreciated reading a book like this when I was growing up. It gives hope to children growing up in takeaways, helping them to understand that what their lives are not weird. I loved this book and have recommended it to everyone. I liked the recipes too! Thank you, Angela
by Kavey
A beautiful read. I’m also a second generation immigrant and grew up with some of the same feelings as the author, though I didn’t have such as restricted childhood in terms of helping with the family business. I found this very moving and insightful and also such a pleasure to read.
by Kindle Customer
Some lovely moments , but far to long on tedious detail , I admire what she is trying to say and mundaneness of her growing up , but it can be brain numbing for the reader . But good luck for future volumes , as she obviously has a flair for telling a story
by Emma Roberts
A wonderful book that helped me to understand and appreciate a family and upbringing that I didn’t get to experience. Hui is a great writer and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about her life in Wales, and also loved the recipes ????????????