Novelist and poet Kit Fan discusses his new novel Goodbye Chinatown with writer and broadcaster Bidisha.

Set between London and Hong Kong in the years following the territory’s return to Chinese rule, Goodbye Chinatown follows Amber Fan, an Oxford-educated chef trying to reinvent her family’s struggling Chinatown restaurant while navigating the fractures running through both her family and the city she left behind. Kit Fan’s work has been widely acclaimed for its precision, intelligence, and emotional depth. His poetry collection The Ink Cloud Reader was shortlisted for both the T. S. Eliot and Forward prizes.

As Hong Kong seethes under mounting political pressure, Amber remains in London while her parents return home, taking with them her younger brother — and a long-buried family secret. Then a mysterious woman called Celeste arrives, paying thousands for a dinner for one, setting in motion a new reckoning with the past.