takeaway: stories from a childhood behind the counter

An eye-opening memoir revealing the stories behind living in & running a Chinese takeaway.

Growing up in a Chinese takeaway in rural Wales, Angela Hui was made aware at a very young age of just how different she & her family were seen by her local community. From attacks on the shopfront (in other words, their home), to verbal abuse from customers, & 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 & joy in the rhythm of life in the takeaway & 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-friend rice & 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 & immersive memoir from someone on the other side of the counter.