9781783968862_

If only my Cantonese parents werent so allergic to the word love

A wonderfully heart-warming memoir from the bottom of the stomach. Xiaolu Guo

A real and delightful surprise, full of smart thought and deft words and also very funny. Ella Risbridger

Poetic, delicious and full of moments of grace and beauty. Nikesh Shukla

What is the most unsayable thing you have ever wanted to say to your parents? For newly single food journalist Candice Chung, theres been one thing on her mind lately: If anything happens, I love you. Simple. Reasonable. If only her estranged Cantonese parents werent so allergic to the word love.

Still, shes determined to tackle whats left unsaid. To find a way to unscramble what her family has been trying to tell each other all along not in Cantonese or English, but with food.

As Candice dives into the rituals of family dining, and her parents offer to join her at restaurants shes due to review, she begins to unravel how a decade of silence and distance have shaped their relationship. Through shared meals and culinary adventures from steaming hotpots to pasta at uncomfortably romantic trattorias they begin to confront the unspoken. And to unpick what it means to show care when you come from a culture where saying I love you isnt the norm.

Set against the backdrop of a burgeoning new relationship, grasped-at date nights mid-pandemic and an uncertain future across seas, Candice reflects on migration, solitude and intimacy.

How can we rebuild closeness when weve drifted apart?

Can food fill the gaps where words fail?

For anyone who has ever found their loved ones emotional worlds unreachable, Chinese Parents Dont Say I Love You is packed with heart, humour and those bright-hearted moments around a dinner table that bring us together.

The next word-of-mouth obsession for readers of Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, Butter by Asako Yuzuki and I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee.

Tenderly shows how food steps up to provide the emotional support, comfort, and safety that humans need, when words cannot. Hetty Lui McKinnon

Will undo anyone whose love language is food. Tara Wigley, co-author of Ottolenghi SIMPLE

...(*_*)9781783968862_

If only my Cantonese parents werent so allergic to the word love

A wonderfully heart-warming memoir from the bottom of the stomach. Xiaolu Guo

A real and delightful surprise, full of smart thought and deft words and also very funny. Ella Risbridger

Poetic, delicious and full of moments of grace and beauty. Nikesh Shukla

Still, shes determined to tackle whats left unsaid. To find a way to unscramble what her family has been trying to tell each other all along not in Cantonese or English, but with food.

Set against the backdrop of a burgeoning new relationship, grasped-at date nights mid-pandemic and an uncertain future across seas, Candice reflects on migration, solitude and intimacy.

How can we rebuild closeness when weve drifted apart?

Can food fill the gaps where words fail?

Tenderly shows how food steps up to provide the emotional support, comfort, and safety that humans need, when words cannot. Hetty Lui McKinnon

Will undo anyone whose love language is food. Tara Wigley, co-author of Ottolenghi SIMPLE

...(*_*)9781783968862_

If only my Cantonese parents werent so allergic to the word love

A wonderfully heartwarming memoir with lots of foodie insights. Rachel Khoo

A real and delightful surprise and also very funny. Ella Risbridger

What is the most unsayable thing you have ever wanted to say to your parents? For newly single food journalist Candice Chung, theres been one thing on her mind lately: she has never told them, I love you. Simple. Reasonable. If only her estranged Cantonese parents werent so allergic to the word love.

With a 13-year relationship coming to an end, Candice Chung finds herself losing not only her first love but also her most reliable restaurant review partner. And so when her parents offer to be her new plus-ones, she faces a dilemma: is it better to eat together in polite silence or to try to broach how, for the past decade, theyve managed to drift so profoundly apart?

Through shared meals and culinary adventures, Candice and her parents begin to break their silence. Yet when a new relationship begins to bloom, it forces her to try to address what still remains unsaid. To do so, she must find a new vocabulary - a way to unscramble what her family has been trying to express all along. Not through words, but with food.

Set against the backdrop of this burgeoning new relationship, grasped-at date nights mid-pandemic and an uncertain future across seas, Chinese Parents Dont Say I Love You is packed with heart, humour and those bright-hearted moments around a dinner table that bring us together.

A world-spanning love story, a book of philosophy via the dinner table, a tender portrait of family trying to communicate: Candice Chungs gorgeous memoir is all of these things and more. Rebecca May Johnson, author of Small Fires

Tenderly shows how food steps up to provide the emotional support, comfort, and safety that humans need, when words cannot. Hetty Lui McKinnon

Will undo anyone whose love language is food. Tara Wigley, co-author of Ottolenghi SIMPLE

...(*_*)9781783968862_

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST SUMMER BOOK

LoveReading's Best Books of the Year 2025

A deliciously nourishing memoir of food, family and finding love…

'A world-spanning love story.' Rebecca May Johnson

'A wonderfully heartwarming memoir with lots of foodie insights.' Rachel Khoo

After a thirteen-year relationship ends, food journalist Candice Chung find herself losing both her first love and her favourite dining partner. So when her retired Cantonese parents volunteer as her new plus-ones, she must decide whether to keep the peace – or finally confront the distance that's grown between them.

As a new romance stirs and old wounds heal, Candice begins to learn that some truths can't be spoken – only tasted . . .

This is a deliciously nourishing story of food, family and finding new love.

'A touching, poignant love story… so vivid and flavoursome.' Huma Qureshi, author of How We Met

'Packed with heart, humour, and those tender moments around a dinner table.' Angela Hui, author of Takeaway

'Will undo anyone whose love language is food.' Tara Wigley, co-author of Ottolenghi SIMPLE

'A real and delightful surprise – and also very funny.' Ella Risbridger, author of Midnight Chicken (& Other Recipes Worth Living For)

n(*_*)9781783968862_

AS FEATURED ON BBC RADIO 4 LOOSE ENDS

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST SUMMER BOOK

LoveReading's Best Books of the Year 2025

A deliciously nourishing memoir of food, family and finding love…

'A world-spanning love story.' Rebecca May Johnson

'A wonderfully heartwarming memoir with lots of foodie insights.' Rachel Khoo

As a new romance stirs and old wounds heal, Candice begins to learn that some truths can't be spoken – only tasted . . .

This is a deliciously nourishing story of food, family and finding new love.

'A touching, poignant love story… so vivid and flavoursome.' Huma Qureshi, author of How We Met

'Packed with heart, humour, and those tender moments around a dinner table.' Angela Hui, author of Takeaway

'Will undo anyone whose love language is food.' Tara Wigley, co-author of Ottolenghi SIMPLE

'A real and delightful surprise – and also very funny.' Ella Risbridger, author of Midnight Chicken (& Other Recipes Worth Living For)

Filtros

Don Thompson