Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo
"Sour Sweet" by Timothy Mo is a compelling novel that explores the complexities of life within London's Chinese immigrant community. The story centers on a Hong Kong couple, Chen and Lily, who grapple with their dislocation after four years in England, struggling to find their identity in a foreign land. When they start a Chinese food take-out business at a suburban truck stop, their lives seem to stabilize until tragedy strikes with Chen's mysterious disappearance, ultimately revealed to be a murder by the Triad, a Hong Kong-based organized crime group.
The narrative delves into the challenges of cultural assimilation and the immigrant experience, showcasing how each character navigates these obstacles. Chen clings to his traditional roots, which leads to his tragic fate, while Lily embodies resilience, striving to balance her heritage with the realities of Western society. In contrast, Lily's sister Mui adapts quickly to her new environment, representing a younger generation that embraces change. Through these characters, Mo addresses themes of cultural displacement, identity, and the quest for belonging, ultimately suggesting that harmony can be found by integrating the values of both cultures. "Sour Sweet" offers an insightful perspective on the immigrant journey, blending serious themes with moments of humor and hope.
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Subject Terms
Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo
First published: 1982
The Work
Sour Sweet vividly re-creates life in London’s Chinese immigrant community. The narrative follows a Hong Kong couple, Chen and Lily, who at the novel’s beginning have lived in England for four years, “long enough to have lost their place in the society from which they had emigrated but not long enough to feel comfortable in the new.” After the birth of their son, Man Kee, they send to Hong Kong for Lily’s sister, Mui, to assist them. Encouraged by Lily, the family opens a Chinese food take-out stand at a suburban truck stop.
Just when their lives are going well, Chen disappears. Although the family never knows the circumstances, the reader learns that Chen has been murdered by the Triad. A secret society devoted to organized crime and based in Hong Kong, the Triad flourishes in London. The leaders wrongly think that Chen has stolen drugs and have him killed before they discover their mistake.
Sour Sweet is a highly readable novel, enriched by the revelation of the Triad’s criminal operations and ritual, the realistic settings, and the farcical scenes based on cultural misunderstanding. These elements serve to highlight the well-developed characters and their skirmishes in an alien environment as they struggle to reinvent their identity. The major characters each tackle the immigrant dilemma differently, and thus exemplify their different modes of behavior.
Chen, whose attitude Timothy Mo does not sanction, habitually considers himself an interloper. Making no effort to understand his new home, he stubbornly perpetuates the traditional ways of the world he left behind, even in his family relationships. It is ironic that the gentle but traditional Chen meets violent death at the hands of the tradition-steeped Triad. On the other hand, Lily, the novel’s strongest character, realizes that to survive she must strike a balance between the old ways and those of Western society. In contrast, Mui easily adapts to the new culture, partially through the knowledge of English life and language she gains from television. At the end, Mui, who plans to open a fish and chips stand with her new husband, announces proudly, “This is my home now.” Although Lily at first wants to protect and isolate Man Kee, she reluctantly agrees with Mui that her son must be receptive to change. He represents a future in which what Lily calls “a balance of things” will assure him that he need not, like his father, regard himself as an interloper.
Although serious in its account of cultural displacement, Sour Sweet strikes a happier chord than some immigrant literature. Mo does not sugarcoat the difficulties immigrants face, but neither does he respond in anger or despair. Instead, he envisions identity attained through achieving a balance that embraces the best of both cultures.
Bibliography
Listener. Review. CVII (June 3, 1982), p. 22.
London Review of Books. Review. IV (May 6, 1982), p. 18.
May, Hal, ed. Contemporary Authors, Vol. 117, 1986.
New Statesman. Review. CIII (April 23, 1982), p. 27.
The Observer. Review. April 25, 1982, p. 30.
Ramraj, Victor. “The Interstices and Overlaps of Cultures.” In International Literature in English. New York: Garland, 1991.
Rothfork, John. “Confucianism in Timothy Mo’s Sour Sweet.” Journal of Commonwealth Literature 24, no. 1 (1989): 49-64.
The Times Literary Supplement. Review. May 7, 1982, p. 502.