In Conversation with Mimi Kwa
Humffray Room
The House of Kwa
Mimi Kwa.
The dragon circles and swoops … a tiger running alone in the night … Mimi Kwa ignored the letter for days. When she finally opened it, the news was so shocking her hair turned grey. Why would a father sue his own daughter?
The collision was over the estate of Mimi’s beloved Aunt Theresa, but its seed had been sown long ago. In an attempt to understand how it had come to this, Mimi unspools her rich family history in House of Kwa. One of a wealthy silk merchant’s 32 children, Mimi’s father, Francis, was just a little boy when the Kwa family became caught up in the brutal and devastating Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. Years later, he was sent to study in Australia by his now independent and successful older sister Theresa. There he met and married Mimi’s mother, a nineteen-year-old with an undiagnosed, chronic mental illness. Soon after, ‘tiger’ Mimi arrived, and her struggle with the past – and the dragon – began…
Riveting, colourful and often darkly humorous, House of Kwa is an epic family drama spanning four generations, and an unforgettable story about how one woman finds the courage to stand up for her freedom and independence, squaring off against the ghosts of the past and f inally putting them to rest.
Throughout, her inspiration is Francis’s late older sister, the jet-setting, free-spirited Aunt Theresa, whose extraordinary life is a beacon of hope in the darkness.
Praise for 'House of Kwa'
‘Revelatory and remarkable storytelling.’ Trent Dalton
‘Compelling, memorable and vividly told, this is a startling tale of the past, its grip on the present, and the battle to set yourself free.’ Richard Glover
‘An astonishing true tale that leaps across centuries and cultures to land with a thump in your heart.’ Lisa Millar
‘Heartbreaking and uplifting.’ Meaghan Wilson Anastasios
‘Mimi’s heroic saga illustrates what makes us the multi-cultural nation we are today.’ Mike Munro
About the author
Price includes booking fee & gst, also includes light refreshment. All proceeds go to the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute to support the staging of our author events.
Book on-line or contact Rosemary at the Libary via email library@ballaratmi.org.au or phone (03) 5331 3042
This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work, learn and create. Always Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land.
