Kowloon Tong: A Novel

by PaulTheroux (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1997

  $3.28

• Used

  Paperback
  1997

  $13.94

  For Neville ('Bunt') Mullard and his mother, Hong Kong is part of Britain - high teas and bad weather, race meetings at Happy Valley, roast beef at Fatty's Chop House and, for Bunt, the 'blue hotels' in Kowloon Tong. Now, Britain is about to hand over Hong Kong to China, but for the Mullards the 'Chinese take-away', as they call it, does not particularly concern them. When Mr Hung, a well-spoken gentleman from the Chinese mainland offers to buy their family business, Imperial Stitching, Bunt refuses them out of hand. But it soon becomes clear that Mr Hung will accept no refusals.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1998

  $3.28

  For Neville Bunt Mullard and his mother, Betty, Hong Kong is part of Britain - one of the pleasanter parts; it is also cozy, monotonous, profitable, and homely. Now ninety-nine years of colonial rule are about to end, and the British government is about to hand over Hong Kong to China. Betty and Bunt can see China from their parlor, but they have never been there. They detest Chinese food. The Chinese take-away, as they call the Hand-over, does not particularly concern them. When Bunt first meets Mr. Hung, a well-spoken gentleman from the Chinese mainland, he pays him little heed. And when Mr. Hung offers the Mullards a handsome sum for their family business - a fifty-year-old textile factory, Imperial Stitching, that was cofounded by Bunt's late father - Bunt refuses him out of hand. Yet it soon grows clear that Mr. Hung is different from the Chinese the Mullards have lived alongside for years. For Mr. Hung will accept no refusals. Then a young woman from the Mullards' factory vanishes, one of many disappearances. But this one is different. Ah Fu has last been seen in the company of Mr. Hung. And so Bunt is forced for the first time in his forty-three years to make decisions that matter. He even begins, maybe, to discover love. Yet against all of Bunt's good, if half-formed, intentions are pitted the will of Mr. Hung and the looming threat of the ultimate betrayal.

• New

  Paperback
  1998

  $18.44