Sweet Mandarin by Helen Tse - A Sweet Memoir Review

Helen Tse brings to life a personal memoir with grace and style that can only be written by someone secure in their own life while also so very proud of the three courageous generations of strong women in her family that she writes of so eloquently. SWEET MANDARIN starts with the story of Helen's grandmother Lily Kwok, who was born to Tai Po and Leung in 1918 in Guangzhou. A normal Chinese father, he wanted sons but was unlike the normal Chinese father in that when he did have six daughters instead, he did not consider them inferior. Often in those days, having a daughter was almost a curse.This was during the earliest days of the industrial revolution in China where the silk factories employed children---young children-as young as five years old. Lily was one of those children and while her father was trying to build a business making and selling soy sauce, the story tells of young Lily working in the factories. No child labor laws or consideration of these young children is
better epitomized then when Lily faints at one point and a foreman makes an example of her for "not working" and sticks her hand into a boiling pot of water. Fortunately, as Lily's father's soy business grew, they left China to go to Hong Kong in 1925. Helen Tse tells this story not with bitterness but with pride of how her family came out of poverty and rose above these hardships. She also weaves into the story the love of food and how the family recipes were handed down and treasured.Hong Kong was not the dream come true they thought it would be as there they find people jealous of Lily's father's success with the soy sauce. Even before he could settle his family securely in Hong Kong, a local gang who envied him murdered Leung. In those days, tradition had it that women didn't inherit anything from the men so the family was left to be cared for by other family members as they were forced from their home. Lily took on a job as a maid and nanny to a wealthy British family
and that is what finally brought her to England in the early 1950's. An abusive marriage to a cheating, gambling husband did not stop Lily from fighting to bring her children to England when they were nine and eleven years old. By the time the children arrived, her husband had become addicted to opium and was involved with the Chinese criminal gangs known as the Triads. His lifestyle, including living with a prostitute, leaving Lily bankrupt but that didn't stop her.With the help of her mentor, Mrs. Woodmen, who Lily had come to England with, Lily was able to start her own business. Mrs. Woodmen left her money when she died and so Lily was able to open a Chinese takeout restaurant. Lily's daughter, Mabel, was raised working in the business and learning the secret recipes of her mother. While all these hardships and tragedies surrounded Lily's life, the one shining point continued to be the family's love of cooking and their tasty foods. This was the gift she passed on to her
daughter and in turn the granddaughters. Mabel's daughters, Helen included, were raised in "the business" and although they all went off to be successful professionals, their love of their family, culture, and its food was something that always kept this family united. And so it was that a family dream came true when Lisa and Janet, joined their sister Helen and opened the Sweet Mandarin Restaurant in England in 2004. The love, determination, and courage of these three generations of Chinese women covers 100 years and shows that one can achieve what they put their mind to no matter what obstacles are in their way.

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