Xi Xu, Hong Kong Rose

Amy Lai (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

Ed. by John Thieme, University of East Anglia
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.4.2: Hong Kong, Singaporean, Malaysian and Myanmar Writing and Culture.

Dates

First circulation or publication 1997

Places

Hong Kong (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Like its predecessor

Daughters of Hui

, Xu Xi’s third book probes the gender issue.

Hong Kong Rose

is devoted entirely to the dilemma of Rose Kho. Born of a Chinese-Indonesian family, Rose lives perpetually under pressure from her family, her in-laws, and even Helen and Uncle Chong, who are Western and liberal-minded. As a result, she feels obliged to remain in her marriage to Paul, her bisexual husband whose sexual orientation was revealed to her only after they get married – and drag on her secret affair with Elliot, her American lover. She tries to convince herself that she has made a “pretty picture of life – family, marriage, social standing, a good job”:

That was the problem with life in Hong Kong. Everything was about what we speculated and guessed, not what we knew.

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1276 words

Citation: Lai, Amy. "Hong Kong Rose". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 November 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12474, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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