holland park publishing ltd

Special edition cover designed by Oscar yi Hou

May is born into a wealthy Hong Kong family. Barely a teenager, her family falls sharply into decline, and following a devastating course of fate, May leaves her ancestral village home with the passing Cantonese Opera troupe and flees to a British-occupied Hong Kong. There she eventually meets Andrew, a Sergeant in the British Army. Six months into their marriage, he is sent away severing their communication and marking the beginning of a war-torn journey that takes May over oceans, between lives and across cultures carrying with her choices and secrets on the way.

Spanning the twentieth century, The Unwanted is a vivid celebration of life, replete with resonant portraits of the intertwining cultures of China and Britain that illuminate the evolving role of women, tradition and seemingly inescapable fate in the backdrop of unprecedented societal change.