The Life I didn’t Live - A book review of Angela Hui’s Takeaway

I picked up this book because I see the resemblance to a life that might have been mine. It is as if I am trying to live in a parallel universe through reading about the life of Angela Hui, the young daughter of a Hong Kong immigrant in South Wales. 

Through this part memoir, part recipe and part diaspora diary, Angela described her childhood stuck in a Chinese takeaway, a feeling my mum repeatedly expressed as she walked us back into her teenage years. Her after-school activities, holidays, and free time were all dedicated to the takeaway shop, which sold classic Hong Kong dishes, British-inspired Chinese cuisine, and, of course, fish and chips. It was said that during the post-war migration wave, Hong Kong and Malaysian immigrants rented vacant fish and chip shops to start their business, often in rural British villages, creating the British Chinese hybrid. 

Angela might have been a 90s child, tending to Hong Kong TV drama and Pokémon games, but the tradition hasn’t changed. Like my mum’s family, hers have set up their shop in rural Wales and the three siblings share the duty of a once vibrant Chinese takeaway. 

The stories she shared of racism, of hooligans and of school life act as a filler for me to relive my mum’s life as a teen. I was especially emotional while reading about the family tension the siblings have with their parents. A person might have moved to a new place of residents, but the cultural dynamics do not change. The relationship between a husband and wife can be strained by the pressure of life as an immigrant who works at least twelve hours a day. 

For the kids growing up with such a responsibility that they cannot get out of, it seemed more like a burden in the moment. Yet, as Angela recollects her memories, she gives it a bittersweet twist. Angela gave us details of her puppy love, her family trips back to Hong Kong, and her escape from family duties as she attended university. There are many hardships described, but it all comes to a fruitful end. Like all parents, their parents just want to provide a better life for their child. 

Now, as an award-winning journalist, editor and author, Angela resides in London, living a life writing about food and drinks, and takes occasional trips back to Hong Kong and China for work (or for the meals). Her sharing of recipes at the end of every chapter of the book is proper proof of her good work. She balances out from takeaway shop classics like prawn toast to delicate dim sum dishes like rice rolls. 

I finished the book on the day I received news about my uncle’s passing, making it a memorable yet upsetting ending. My uncle, as one of the siblings who tended to my grandparent’s takeaway shop, had developed long term illnesses from being in the kitchen. This distant life lingers throughout my family history. I was glad the author was not bound to the cycle and rather celebrated food through storytelling; just like a true Chinese, showing care through shared meals.