by Mimi Kwa
Aunty Theresa at her shop in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Mum and Dad on their wedding day, with my mum’s sister, Zora, brother, Roger, and parents (my paw paw and granddad)
Mum and me
The only photo of Mum, Dad and me together
Watching over me. Aunty Mary, left, Aunty Clara and Aunty Theresa with her hand on my shoulder
On holiday in Hong Kong. Me in my school uniform, next to Ng Yuk, then from left to right, Clara, Steven, Mary, David, Theresa, Dad and Angela
Dad and me in the sunflower patch, where I would play and hide, and where we shot his rifle
Mandarin Gardens. Our pool and all those balconies
Me, John, our kids and my mum
Jerome, me, Dad and Adrian – House of Kwa
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I cannot express how deeply moved I am to have such strong and fearless women in my publishing corner. Jude and Brigitta, thank you for your support and belief in me which has frequently brought me to tears of sheer gratitude. To Kate and Barbara, your care and sensitivity with my story and empowerment of my words has been a wonderous and blessed experience. To my lovely publicist Jordan and all the dedicated Harper Collins team, I thank you for giving me this fantastic glimpse into the magical way in which your world of print lives and breathes. Thanks to Nadine for your utter care with my earliest draft and, of course, Jane for your unwavering faith from that very first call, and all those pep talks since. Andy, designer extraordinaire, thanks to you and the art team for the cover of my dreams.
To Mum and Dad, who gave me life, I am full of gratitude to you both for your love and doing the best you knew how to do. Zora, you are a lifesaver in more ways than one. Thanks to my brothers Adrian and Jerome for accepting my decision to tell my story and to David, Josephine and Steven – you are Kwa. Beloved Aunties and Paw Paw and Granddad, I could not have done without your unwavering strength. My cousin Karen, I’m so glad we reconnected after almost three decades, I am only sorry I won’t ever see our dearly departed Cathy again. Matthew Kwa, thank you for your love and family trees of Kwa. Thank you Len and Kath and Robertses for not ever quite understanding Kwa but embracing me anyway.
To my besties from every chapter of my life and to dear friends who have hung closely with me to the very end of this long writing journey – Foxy, Rach, Meaghan, Georgina, Carmel and Tracey, in particular, the girls in The Band, the No 1 Melbourne Ladies Bookclub, and all who have held my hand, laughed and cried with me, walked and stretched it out and simply said, ‘keep going’, thank you. Jo, for always emanating light beams of love just when they were needed, George, for your brilliance coining the name House of Kwa, and Sherrie, I owe you special acknowledgment for checking my Chinese. Jesper, your last-minute photo is amazing.
To my high school Big Clique, Rat Pack, Scarborough, City Beach, Hale and Churchlands crews and my primary school friends, for being life rafts at a time I may otherwise have drowned, thank you – we did have fun in amongst it all. To everyone I have mentioned in this book, and to you for reading it, I fold my hands and bow.
And to John, my rock, and my kids – you are my world. I know I have been lost in my writing, thank you for supporting my healing so that I could emerge from beneath the waves to finally swim on my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MIMI KWA has been an Australian journalist and television newsreader on the ABC and Nine Network for twenty years and has appeared in commercials and FOXTEL, STAN and ABC TV series. She and her partner, John, live in Melbourne, with their four children, a cavoodle and a Burmese cat. Mimi loves to paint and write. This memoir is her first book.
PRAISE FOR HOUSE OF KWA
‘House of Kwa enchants and enthrals like the best kind of sweeping, dynastic fiction, but it rattles the bones and breaks the heart with the pure facts of Mimi Kwa’s extraordinary story. Revelatory and remarkable storytelling.’ – Trent Dalton
‘A startling tale of the past, its terrible grip on the present, and the battle to set yourself free. Full of astonishing scenes that hover between tragedy and farce, Mimi Kwa weaves tales of anarchy, madness and survival. Compelling, memorable and vividly told.’ – Richard Glover
‘An astonishing true tale that leaps across centuries and cultures to land with a thump in your heart.’ – Lisa Millar
‘A captivating, gripping and inspirational tale of one woman’s triumph over adversity, House of Kwa is the most heartbreaking and uplifting book I have read in years. From pre-war China, through Hong Kong in its decadent heyday, to the sun-soaked beaches of Perth, Mimi Kwa sets out on a courageous journey of self-discovery to confront her own, and her family’s, demons. This extraordinary multi-generational memoir is told through Kwa’s fearless storytelling, as she grapples with questions of love, loyalty, and the power of the human spirit. Intimate and revelatory, it announces the arrival of an exciting writer.’ – Meaghan Wilson Anastasios
‘From the back streets of China to war-torn Hong Kong to an Australian family struggling with the past and with mental illness, this heroic saga encapsulates what makes us the multicultural nation we are today.’ – Mike Munro
COPYRIGHT
The ABC ‘Wave’ device is a trademark of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is used under licence by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia.
HarperCollinsPublishers
Australia • Brazil • Canada • France • Germany • Holland • Hungary
India • Italy • Japan • Mexico • New Zealand • Poland • Spain • Sweden
Switzerland • United Kingdom • United States of America
First published in Australia in 2021
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Tigeroy Pty Ltd 2021
The right of Mimi Kwa to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978 0 7333 4113 7 (paperback)
ISBN 978 1 4607 1289 4 (ebook)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.
Cover design by Andy Warren, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover images by shutterstock.com and istockphoto.com
Photograph of Mimi Kwa by Holly Osborne
Photograph of Mimi Kwa and her family by Jesper Nielsen
