Else Sze's Novel "Hui Gui: A Chinese Story" Speaks to Our Longing For Home

(PRWEB) January 9, 2007 -- The longing for home is the foundation for the novel, "Hui Gui: A Chinese Story," by Toronto author Elsie Sze. Although her first novel is not autobiographical, says author Elsie Sze, her own father and mother as young university students in China during the Japanese invasion had some wartime harrowing experiences similar to those of the characters in her epic novel "Hui Gui," a name that has come to designate the British handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 and the pivotal event that launches this moving and poignant epic novel of twentieth century China and Hong Kong.

"Hui Gui" transports the reader through time and place with the memorable story of Tak Sing growing up in war-torn China of the thirties and forties and leaving the mainland for Hong Kong as a refugee following the Communist victory in 1949.

Set between the periods of 1934, when a feudal society was still predominant in China, and 1997, when Hong Kong left British rule to be unified once more with China, "Hui Gui" follows the story of Tak Sing, the son of a landlord from the Province of Guangdong in southeastern China, across three generations. In the microcosm of his story lies universal, larger-than-life themes that cross cultural and ethnic bounds and touch the lives and hearts of people regardless of time and place. For more on the book, visit: http://www.btspublishing.com/

Excerpt:
"I want you to know about my past, because it is also your past - my roots are your roots. I want you to know my father and mother, the love they gave to me, and through me to you. I want to share the memories of my childhood with you. I want you to have a sense of the history that has shaped China in our lifetimes, the blood and tears shed by her people, the sacrifices they made in pursuit of political and personal ideals, and the wars that took away much that I held dear. I have been a part of it all. My daughter, you too are a part of it all."
- from "Hui Gui, a Chinese story"

Papa and I sat in front of the graves for a long while, until darkness shrouded the surrounding hills and fields, and all we could hear were the buzz of cicadas on the trees and the occasional barking of dogs in the village, and all we could see were the flickers of fireflies around the dark forms of the tombstones under the starless night.
"I just want to sit here a little longer, Serena, for I don't know when I'll come this way again," Papa said in a heavy voice.
"'Tis fine, Papa. 'Tis fine. I will sit here with you for as long as you wish."
- from "Hui Gui, a Chinese story"

A Biography of Elsie Sze:
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Elsie Sze was the chief editor of a student literary publication while at the University of Hong Kong, and contributed many articles to the publication. After graduation, she pursued graduate studies in Canada and the United States, and acquired a master degree in English Literature from the University of Toronto, and a master degree in Library Science from the University of Chicago.

Elsie was an English teacher and school librarian in high schools in the United States and Canada for over nine year. Subsequently, she worked as a librarian in public libraries in the United States and Canada for over ten years. While a librarian at the Toronto Public Library, she took up creative writing at the reputable Humber School for Writers in Toronto from 1998 to 2001. At the same time, she started on her first novel which was to become Hui Gui: A Chinese story.

For her novel "Hui Gui: A Chinese story," Elsie did intense research on the life and times, and the political and social history of China and Hong Kong for the period from the 1930's to 1997. She recalled her impressions growing up in Hong Kong, then a British colony, read profusely about the historical period in her novel, conducted interviews, and made several trips back to Hong Kong for her research. "Hui Gui" is the result of the author's love of creating and expressing with words and sharing her stories. It is also her tribute to Hong Kong, the city of her birth and formation.

Elsie now lives in Toronto. She travels extensively, often to exotic and interesting places which form the settings for her stories. She is currently working on a second novel.

Distributed in Canada by
BTS Publishing House
PO Box 962 Station B
Willowdale, Ontario
Canada M2K 2T6
Tel: 416-756-2181
Fax: 416-756-3143

Distributed in the U.S. by
APG Sales and Fulfillment
7344 Cockrill Bent Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37209
U.S.A.
Tel: 1-800-327-5113
Fax: 1-800-510-3650

###