Goodbye Chinatown

by Kit Fan

As her native Hong Kong seethes, torn between two world powers, Amber Fan tries to build a career as a chef in London’s Chinatown. Amber Fan, a young Oxford-educated chef, opens the first Chinese fusion joint in London’s Chinatown following the failure of her father’s traditional restaurant. When her parents decide to return to Hong Kong, taking with them their young son Bobby as well as the haunting secret surrounding his birth, Amber is left alone in London. That is, until a woman called Celeste hires out the restaurant, coughing up three grand for a dinner for one. Who is this extravagant stranger, and how did she get so wealthy?

Set in the aftermath of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule, Goodbye Chinatown shows a family torn between two countries. Amber throws herself into her career to escape the painful cycle of family separations and reunions. The tastes and smells spark off every page in Kit Fan’s latest novel, making for a truly multisensorial reading experience. Offering a behind-the-scenes of this suburb of London’s hospitality economy, and using food to reflect on identity, Goodbye Chinatown paints a portrait of an enterprising émigré who, faced with divided loyalties, invents her own language for home through the culinary arts.

268 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 2, 2026

About the author

Kit Fan is a novelist, poet and critic. His first novel Diamond Hill (2021) was published with critical acclaim. Goodbye Chinatown (2026) is his second novel. His third poetry collection, The Ink Cloud Reader (2023), was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and Forward Prize. He was shortlisted twice for the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, and was a winner of the Hong Kong University International Poetry Prize, Northern Writers Awards for Poetry and Fiction, Times/Stephen Spender Poetry Translation Prize and POETRY’s Editors Prize for Reviewing. He has written for the Guardian, Times Literary Supplement and Telegraph. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Vice-Chair of Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), Co-Chair of the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), and a Trustee of New Writing North. He was born and educated in Hong Kong and now lives in the UK.

Reviews

[Mai H.]

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and World Editions

[Emily Poche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to World Editions Group for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Goodbye Chinatown by Kit Fan is the intimate portrait of the Fan family, who crisscross the globe between England, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Focused mainly around the daughter (and secretly, mother) character, Amber, the story is framed deeply by the trajectory of the culinary career.

Within this story there are three primary topics that are interwoven to create the narrative; cooking, family, and political activism in Hong Kong. Developed to different degrees, the author makes it clear how inextricably linked these three things are. Amber, a chef, is deeply bound to her roots through her childhood in her father’s London Chinatown restaurant, but uses her own cooking to relate to her identity. From the earliest moments, the remnants of the British Colonial system and the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre shape the family’s path and trajectory.

These three different story lines and themes are executed to varying degrees of success. The author’s descriptions of food are lush and detailed, jumping off of the page. The story of Amber working through different types of restaurants is also beautifully framed by the descriptions of the food scene and different types of restaurants. However, the parts of the story containing the family dynamics are the least interesting. For some reason, despite the level of drama and secrecy, this felt like the least developed part of the story. At times the story felt uninspired; taciturn father, parents that are at odds but won’t divorce, etc. I just felt like the arc was very, very predictable once the political elements are taken away.

While I did enjoy this book and believe it to be very tenderly written, it wasn’t particularly gripping. The food elements and discussions of issues for citizens of Hong Kong were very interesting, but I didn’t particularly enjoy the story tying these elements together. 3/5 stars.

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to World Editions and NetGalley for this copy.


I chose this book because of its premise: the story of a chef torn between her "homeland" and the England that raised her, even if not always kindly. I found the concept interesting, especially because it seemed like a reflection on Hong Kong itself, conveyed through the words of one of its fellow citizens.
The book didn't actually convince me right away, it felt very slow-paced although I found Amber's story fascinating. I liked to see a point of view (I was a kid and I don't remember it very well) on SARS and the xenophobia that came out of it and in the very concept of what a 'Chinatown' is. And I enjoyed the second part of it, with Amber struggling between her career and -her son-; and I also appreciated the cosiness of her delicious recipes written between the pages. Then Amber leaves London and her son, and don't get me wrong, Bobby's pov was very appreciated by me, and getting an insight into what Hong Kong's citizens between my age faces daily was very interesting. The ending was the most disappointing part for me. Although it ended "right" it felt incomplete. I wish I got more information on Bobby's side on the protests; Amber thoughts and motivations.. I don't know just...something more.
Anyways it was an entertaining read and I wish that someday it will be translated in italian too, so I could re-read it in my mother tongue.

[Lucy Ellis-Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodbye Chinatown spans roughly twenty years in the lives of the Fan family, moving between England, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. It’s quite fast-paced, and I was reasonably engaged throughout, especially in the first half.

The novel weaves together a lot: the aftermath of Tiananmen Square, the 2008 financial crisis, Hong Kong being handed back to China, and later the protests and political activism that shape Bobby’s storyline. In contrast, Amber’s thread focuses more on food and ambition and her journey towards Michelin stars. I enjoyed those parts a lot; the writing around food and the atmosphere of Chinatown was vivid and comforting in places.

There’s also a strong family element running throughout: secrecy, conflict, parents at odds, and this sense of a family pulled between two countries and two identities. The question of “Where is home?” sits quietly beneath most of the book.

If anything, I found myself wanting more from Amber’s time in Shanghai; those chapters felt quite light, and I would have liked to see that part of her life explored in more depth. Overall, it’s an interesting novel with plenty of drama and movement, but it didn’t fully land for me, hence the three stars.
I received an advance review from NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodbye Chinatown is a novel about food, family, and belonging, as a chef is torn between priorities in a changing world. Amber Fan moved to England from Hong Kong as a child, studied at Oxford, and is now opening a Chinese fusion restaurant in London's Chinatown. Her parents are returning to Hong Kong with young Bobby, but Amber is determined to make it, and even more so when mysterious Celeste offers money towards Amber's restaurant. As the years go on, their lives change, and they are all caught between cultures and secrets.

This is a beautifully written novel that really paints a picture of Chinatown as it has changed over the years, and then of Hong Kong and its changes too. The narrative comes in stages, jumping in time to show how the world changes, and purposefully never quite giving closure from one section to another. I liked the descriptions of food, particularly in the earlier parts of the novel where it is most prevalent, and the way that you get not just Amber's perspective on her food, but also, later, Bobby's perspective on her obsession with food too.

Due to the structure and style, you often feel like you're peeking at the characters rather than getting more deeply to know them. One side character in particular seems important initially and then basically disappears for the rest of the book, so it's not the sort of novel in which everything comes together, but more like a sequence of different events and choices, reflecting life. The political and familial tensions are carefully woven together, not offering answers, but instead showing the complexity of people.

Goodbye Chinatown is a fascinating look at ideas of belonging and authenticity. I think the food angle will draw people in—novels focused on food seem to be having a bit of a moment—and this one offers food as sumptuous description but also as a cultural marker, a passion, and a metaphor.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a look into a Hong Kong / British family ranging from 2001 - 2019.
Amber is the protagonist of most of the book, and an avid food lover and chef. Historical fiction is gently woven into a story about belonging and identity.
The pacing was languid, but still very pleasant. I did enjoy reading this book, but I felt like depth was missing at times. For small portions another narrator takes over and while their story is very interesting and relevant, their tone/cadence/speech does not differentiate enough trom Amber unfortunately.

[Patty Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel made me become a fan of Kit Fan’s writing within the first few chapters.

The food descriptions, how everyone was trying to find a place in the world where they made sense, were written in such a way that as a reader, I felt these emotions myself (and was also very hungry while reading this!).

Loved!

Thank you to World Editions and the author for providing a free copy of this book through NetGalley.