This is a sharply witty satire about Chinese migrants in jazz age London. The humour is precise and bittersweet with buffoonish but absolutely real representations of the “benevolent” and “well meaning” British characters doing many racisms. It offers a fascinating antidote to Wodehouse.

Written and set in London in the 1920s at a time when the British viewed the Chinese as opium-smoking, dog-eating, raping, murdering ‘Yellow Peril’.
This book reminded me of a tv documentary I recently watched about Black Face. About how the British were brain-washed into believing horrendous stereotypes of people of colour.
Lao She makes the same points in ‘Mr Ma and Son’.
There’s the well-meaning but still woefully prejudiced Reverend Ely, who helps the Ma’s as they arrive in London to take over the running of Mr Ma’s recently-deceased brother’s antique shop. Then there’s Mr Weddersburn, a widow who is persuaded by Rev Ely to let out some rooms to the Ma’s only because she can charge them more money. Mary Weddersburn is her daughter - a horribly frivolous young woman who only cares about hats. She also believes all the stereotypes of the Chinese as shown in films and newspapers. However, whilst Mrs Weddersburn is more silent in her racism, Mary is outright rude, addressing Mr Ma and Ma Wei as if they were dumb animals.
Most of the (actually ALL) of the British characters are horrible!
And Mr Ma is a hugely frustrating character. He relies on the Chinese notion that a father must be obeyed and respected at all times. And this is why poor Ma Wei has such a hard time. His father has absolutely no idea about running a business (or much else, for that matter) but thinks he knows best, even though his suggestions have the business running at a loss. Ma Wei is a likeable and capable young man who is thwarted by both his father and Mary Weddersburn, who is is desperately in love with but she has only disdain and a mild amusement for him.
This is a brilliant book - sometimes funny, often full of frustrations and constantly full of difficult home-truths about English feelings of superiority.

Tongue in cheek expose of racial divides and prejudices. Namely how Chinese were viewed in the 1920's in the United Kingdom and the West. How media including films and books were pushing the narrative of the 'bad' Chinese.

You may say that this was then and that now media is more balanced, I disagree. We still get the tropes, the stereotypes and ideas pushed oh so subliminally. The self justification of imperialism has changed to the self justification of the capitalism, trade wars and the resultant heroes and bad guys.

In a way this reminded me of A Room with a View by E M Forster.

An ARC kindly provided by publishers via Netgalley.

Written in the late 1920's, at a time when the author was himself living in England. Mr Ma is a widow who comes to London with his son Ma Wei to take over the antiques shop left to him by his brother. It is a time of pretty virulent racism towards the Chinese, seen as the 'yellow peril' fuelled by books and films where they are invariably the villians, seen generally as murderers and opium addicts, (one of the 10 rules of the detection club was that the murderer couldn't be a Chinaman, not playing fair with the reader). The Reverend Ely, who he met as a missionary back in China, finds him lodgings at Mrs Wedderburn's house. She is unsure about letting her rooms to two Chinamen, but she can charge more rent. What follows is a highly readable, gentle satire on the culture clash between East and West. Mr Ma finds it harder to settle in and misses China, Ma Wei struggles to fit in, wanting to find love.

The depiction of London was fascinating and tells us a lot about the immigrant experience. It was funny and dad in equal measures, and while not exactly a page-turner, it was always good to get back to the story. I'd happily seek out more of his work.

This book was a pleasant surprise, I knew nothing about it when I started. Mr Ma and his son Ma Wei arrive in London in the 1920s to run an antique store left to them after the death of Mr Ma’s brother. It was such an enjoyable read even though it depicts often quite nasty racism experienced by the Ma’s. There’s also the culture shock particularly for Mr Ma who finds the local customs much harder to get used to and he really has no head for business. They find accommodation with the help of the Reverend Ely, a former missionary. Mrs Wedderburn, a widow and her daughter Mary (and her Pekingese, Napoleon) gradually adjust and even to liking their Chinese tenants. (They can charge them higher rent because they are Chinese!) An entertaining read with clever humour and gentle satire, and well written characters.

This gently satirical novel, although not without a certain bite, is a truly compelling and often moving account of Mr Ma and his son Ma Wei who come to England from China to take over the antique shop of Mr Ma’s recently deceased brother. Prejudice against the Chinese is rife and often ridiculous, fed as it is by depictions of the Chinese, “the Yellow Peril”, in contemporary media. Author Lao She skewers this attitude in this wonderful comedy-of-manners as we accompany the two men on their adventures in an alien environment of profound cultural differences but also, of course, basic human relationships, which are the same all over the world. Recommended as lodgers to an English landlady, Mrs Wedderburn, by Mr Ma’s English clergyman, slowly the two start to adapt to English life and not only subvert the prevalent racism but also actually begin to conquer hearts and minds. I found this a delightful book, perceptive and insightful, a real gem, and although set in the 1920s still disturbingly relevant to the 2020s, as has been demonstrated by anti-Chinese feeling during the Covid pandemic. Old habits die hard. Nuanced characterisation, authentic dialogue, and a vivid portrait of the place and time make this an absorbing and illuminating read and one which I very much enjoyed.

my book is lost after i exit from reading it so i will be DNF.

as what i understand about the messages delivered in this book are clear.

as the author was creating a light humour story but it came with heavy themes. the prejudice & discrimination towards Asian especially Chinese was highlighted throughly in this book. As in 1920s, China was a part of British Empire, Chinese were looked down by these British when some of Chinese migrated to England during the colonialization era. Not just simply looked down, British people also were educated by British Empire themselves that Chinese was a barbarian and savage race. They will be needing White people to civilize. And British has this senses of "White Man's Burden" to "teach" Chinese to be civilize in their way of life.

There were 2 characters of Chinese were written which were Mr Ma and his son, Ma Wei. From their characters, there are differences attitude that we can learn from them. Mr Ma was obviously desperate of wanting British to like him and thus he was willing to embrace western culture and willing to lower his honor. While Ma Wei still has a strong sense of nationalisme towards his country and as well as willing to defend his culture. He wants to see China to rise above from their colonizers. He cared a lot about his country. He also did not simply influence with western cultures. As they were migrating from their country, they encountered culture shock. As western cultures are opposite from their cultures, they were a bit of confuse and this cause two path has created. Either been influence or standing strong. I definitely appreciate the culture shock scene as it is a normal thing to face.

There were so many negative perceptions towards Chinese has been written and Western do really thought the world only revolved around them only. Such a good book to read on how the point of view of westerners towards other culture and people. Not forget to mention, the author also provide long term solutions to solve the problem of colonizations. he tried to imply that Chinese should learn and study the knowledge from western and apply in their country without the help from western.

In the end, I realized that as the differences of culture and lack of good governance has caused Westerners to take advantages towards other country. They had this sense to educate non-western people in order to be civilized as per the western ways of life. It was this "White Man's Burden" sense was heavily criticize in this book. It was a wake up call book towards his people under this satirical story.

Lao She is considered as one of China’s great modern writers.
Mr Ma and Son is based on Lao She’s own experiences when he moved to London in 1924 and started teaching Mandarin in the university. It shows the life of Chinese people in London during that period. It is about widower Mr Ma and his son, Ma Wei and their life while running an antiques shop in a quiet street near St Paul's Cathedral. It is a funny and thought provoking read and highly recommended.

Mr Ma and Son

This was a book outside of my normal reading and it was surprising that it was published almost a hundred years ago, because there were aspects of the story that still have resonance today, especially in the last couple of years. It seems to me that the pandemic really did reawaken aggressive racism towards Chinese people and blame was placed squarely at their door. Mr Ma and his son Ma Wei uproot their entire lives to travel to London and continue Mr Ma’s brother’s antique shop, after his death. This is an incredible undertaking and I was astounded at his loyalty to his brother and his desire to keep his legacy alive. The novel perfectly depicted the way we humans misunderstand each other and often offend one another on the basis of this miscommunication. Mr Ma comes across as aloof and ‘stand offish’ when actually he’s following a tradition of politeness that would be the correct behaviour in a shop in China. Here customers are not used to the formality and I inwardly winced at some of the things the English customers are saying.

I thought this was incredibly well-observed and doesn’t soften or hold back on how characters are portrayed. I loved the subtlety of how the author depicted a tension between Mr Ma and his son, a clash between fiercely held traditions and a more modern approach. The English characters in the book are mercilessly depicted as ignorant and hypocritical, spouting ‘facts’ about Chinese people that are clearly untrue. It was interesting how the Ma’s landlady waxed lyrical about Chinese porcelain she had for the dining table, but was not as pleased to give the Ma’s house room. It brought back memories of films and books I’ve seen where Chinese people are depicted as villains. I’m thinking of an old favourite that I used to watch with my grandma, Thoroughly Modern Millie, where the Chinese villains are kidnappers of young women and almost cartoon like in their depiction. This book is subtle but says a lot about this type of racism.

The narrative itself is not a dramatic or plot driven story, it’s more about character and works beautifully as a satire or even a comedy of manners. There’s a comparison to be made with Austen here, in the lampooning of caricatures and the social etiquette of the day. I like anything that punctures our self-righteous belief that we are a superior country to others in terms of ethics, education and being civilised. Behind it all is a fantastic background of 1920s London which feels authentic and anchors these characters beautifully within their time. However, I think this could easily be brought bang up to date and still feature the same prejudice, which is sad.

Acclaimed Chinese author Lao She lived in London in the mid-1920s making a living teaching Chinese to an array of students including future missionaries and a young Graham Greene. Lao She hoped for a better grasp of the nature of British imperialism and its interaction with what he saw as a floundering China but what he encountered in England was virulent prejudice towards anyone Chinese. This intense racism was part of a period during which a moral panic represented the Chinese as part of a broader, malevolent ‘yellow peril’ an attitude fuelling, and fuelled by, a plethora of books, plays and films depicting Chinese characters as villains, murderers or rapists, at best child-like addicts, to be avoided at all costs by respectable white people.

Lao She’s novel gently satirises what it felt like to be Chinese in 1920s England through the experiences of a father and son newly arrived in London to take over a relative’s antique shop. Mr Ma and his son Ma Wei are introduced to the city by a clergyman, former missionary and "benevolent" racist. Once in London the two Mas rent rooms from the widowed Mrs Wedderburn, who lives with her daughter Mary. Mrs Wedderburn is a comical figure and a wonderful comment on English eccentricity and hypocrisy, happy to surround herself with Chinese vases and devoted to her Pekingese dog Napoleon, she prepares for her new lodgers by reading The Confessions of an Opium Eater.

Lao She uses Mr Ma and Ma Wei to probe issues around discrimination and blatant stereotyping, and he’s adept at conveying the homesickness and bewilderment of the displaced. But his narrative also probes deeper cultural divides, and promotes his own ideas about Chinese society, particularly the ways in which different generations envisioned China’s future. But although Lao She’s dealing with weighty subjects, his writing's often light, full of amusing and beautifully detailed scenes of English society and London life. Above all he’s an excellent storyteller, particularly skilled at incorporating small details, even down to the character of Mrs Wedderburn’s beloved dog. It’s not a desperately subtle piece, Lao She was strongly influenced by nineteenth-century writers like Dickens, but it's an entertaining, and illuminating story, a unique, atmospheric perspective on England in the 1920s. I was slightly disappointed by the abrupt ending but other than that I was completely immersed in Lao She’s world.

This Penguin edition comes with comprehensive notes and an introduction from historian Julia Lovell outlining the context for the work and providing an overview of Lao She’s life. Translated by William Dolby.

Thought provoking and engaging. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Lao She's "Mr Ma and Son" is an engaging slice of life novel that follows two immigrants arriving in London and explores a vast collection of themes, mostly racism and colonialism, through humour and critical lenses.

Mr Ma and his son Ma Wei move to London on the death or Mr Ma’s brother, having inherited his antiques shop and, indeed, his shop assistant, Mr Li. They are installed in lodgings by the Reverend Ely, a Sinophile who has lived in China, and raised children there, although his wife has made sure they didn’t get any ideas about learning Chinese or engaging with the country while they were there. Reverend Ely forces Mrs Wedderburn to take the Mas on, and she’s encouraged by the extra money she can make to do do. Then we see her adapt to them, them adapt to her, and her daughter, the flighty Mary, and get used to London life, with scenes in pubs and parks most prominent and beautifully described.

There are many parallels with life today as well as echoes of migration-to-London novels like “The Lonely Londoners“. An example is when Mrs Wedderburn embroiders a Chinese character on Mary’s hat band that she copies from Mr Ma, but upside down, so it says something rude (this reminded me of a short scene in “Mika in Real Life” with a tattoo). And in another one, when an English working-class person finds out the racing results in the paper … “When they see they’ve lost, they purse their lips and read a bit of the anti-foreign news to make themselves feel better” (p. 197).

The introduction by Julia Lovell states this was probably the first Chinese novel to confront British racism towards China directly, and draws parallels to the modern day. Lao She is clear on what causes this: China’s weakness as a country and the media portrayals of the Chinese as dangerous and devious. He himself worked against this stereotype in his few years in London, a quiet and bespectacled student, and the main characters are shown as kind, hard-working, loving and filial, while retaining a flavour of Chinese thought and action: descriptions often feature metaphors such as a wok full of porridge or a sorghum stem. There’s plenty of talk of colonialism, as well, and how the British bring back things and study them, so they have both knowledge and military strength.

An interesting strand is Catherine Ely’s modern status, where she suddenly defies convention, taking advantage of the changes in attitudes coming in after the First World War. This reminded me of my reading of “Square Haunting” [review to come], set among the people who were the first perhaps to set these mores.

As we travel through the Mas’ time in London and their dealings with the dangerous and devious English (also shown to be nuanced and complex, of course), the description of “melancholy ambivalence” is borne out: it is a comedy and there are amusing scenes, but the feeling of confusion in the opening pages, circled back round to by the end, points to mystery and untied-up endings.

An excellent read which I’m very glad I picked up on.

My full blog review here https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/10/30/book-review-lao-she-trans-william-dolby-mr-ma-and-son/

My thanks to Penguin Press UK for a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

Lao Tse was an author I first ‘met’ when I read John Fletcher’s Wuhan last year where he was a character and one of the narrators, and that book had left me wanting to explore Tse’s writings, so when this book appeared on NetGalley, of course I had to request. Mr Ma and Son, first published in 1929, is Lao Tse’s third novel, a tragicomedy based on his own experiences in London.

In the book, Mr Ma a widower in his fifties, travels to London with his young son, Ma Wei (about twenty-one or twenty-two) where they have been left an antique shop that Mr Ma’s older brother ran. Reverend Ely, their former pastor in Beijing encourages them to travel, excited in a way to have one of his Chinese parishioners come to England. He undertakes to arrange lodgings for them, but the strongly racist attitudes prevalent in the country at the time, worsened by popular depictions of the Chinese in films and books, mean that people believe:

… every one of those five thousand yellow-faced demons will smoke opium, smuggle arms, commit murder … rape women … and commit an endless amount of crimes, all deserving, at the very least, gradual dismemberment and death by ten thousand slices of the sword.

No one will let them a place, and the few who do

… realise there’s money to be made and so bring themselves to put on a good face and make the vest of dealing with a bunch of yellow-faced monsters.

Rev Ely does however manage to convince a widowed lady, Mrs Wedderburn who lives with her daughter Mary, and has rooms to let to at least give the Mas a chance. The Mas arrive and almost from the start face culture shock and outright racism, from being expected to pay for their meal when Rev Ely welcomes them at the railway station to the Wedderburns not allowing them to use their bathroom, to endless racist comments by Mary, for

It didn’t seem to occur to her that she could be insulting Ma Wei.

Father and son are both upset by these but take it quietly, Ma Wei angry internally, while Mr Ma trying harder and harder to please. Meanwhile, they take over the shop, where the assistant Li Tzu-jung has been managing things well. Mr Ma has false notions of grandeur, his ideal being a government job, and looks down on commerce, as a result almost divorced from what is needed to run the shop, not only expecting things to run by themselves, but many times creating obstacles when either Ma Wei or Li Tsu-jung suggest or try something. Alongside, Ma Wei is adjusting to life as a student, while also balancing the demands of the shop, and to add to his woes falls rather head-over-heels in love with Mary. We follow them as they navigate this new world, amidst acquaintances old and new, facing mostly every day, but also some different situations.

Mr Ma and Son is a tongue in cheek, slice of life novel, which through the premise of two immigrants arriving in London explores a rather wide canvas in terms of the themes and aspects it deals with, bringing out even its most severe critiques through humour or satire. Racism and relatedly colonialism are prominent among these, with their experiences ranging from casual insensitive comments from Mary, or young shouts of ‘Chink’ from young urchins on the street to slightly more serious encounters involving some violence. And the racist and colonial ‘superior’ attitudes mean that untoward incidents are interpreted against only one party or seen in a certain colour.

Through these encounters between the Mas and those they meet, She also brings out cultural difference for instance, strong individualism on the one side, and filial piety on the other;

So mother and daughter fought like cat and dog, in accordance with that English independence of spirit whereby each person must have his own idea and never yield to the other, which results as the argument proceeds in an ever-increasing distance of opinion between the two parties.

But his critique of English ways does not mean that She was blind to what was appreciable, for instance when Ma Wei, thinking back to his days protesting holding up a paper flag in China, realises

the strength and prosperity of England was in large measure due to the fact that the English don’t shout battle cries, but put their heads down and get on with it.

Or that it isn’t simply military strength but also knowledge that is relevant to Empire-building. Likewise, London, to him may be ‘noisy, bustling and chaotic’ but it has its ‘calm and beautiful’ parks ‘providing a refuge where people can take a breath of fresh sweet-scented air’.

She is also scathing when it comes to the shortcomings of his own country and people

All things Chinese bow down at the foot of face. As long as face can be maintained, who cares about reality?

Elsewhere:

One fears, though that our four hundred million compatriots are, like the elder Ma, both too ambivalent or too listless to fire up and take action. The attitude of just living and making do is the most useless of outlooks, and a disgrace to the human race!

But it isn’t just these broader issues and attitudes that are explores but personal equations and relationships as well; Mr Ma has conventional attitudes, attaches much to face, has a false sense of grandeur, and is always out to please unlike Ma Wei who is more practical, willing to do what it takes to make the business a success, but at the same time struggling with matters of the heart and also notions of filial piety he has been brought up with. There is a generational difference no doubt (also brought out amongst the English in terms of the changed social mores in the post-Great-War period, accepted if not welcomed by some while causing others much consternation), but also their own natures come into it, for the elder Mr Ma is one who seems to care for only grandeur and comfort, whether it was back home where he seemed to live on money sent back by his brother or here, where he expects this to magically keep appearing while he is lost in dreams of that idea government job!

The book through the interactions, and even threads of romance that develop between characters does also explore whether getting to really know each other as people changes things. We see that it does in a sense, at least the individual level, but more broadly the outlook remains more cynical (and sadly we see this continue to this day, so She is perhaps not wrong).

Mr Ma and Son isn’t a novel about any grand resolutions or answers, but one that paints a picture of a world at a time when She experienced it—interactions between two cultures, each of which had their problems (racism and the almost dehumanising of ‘weak’ nations whose people’s worth is equated with that of the places the belonged to being the worst)—but also of the immigrant experience, made up not only of these broader aspects but also much that is individual and personal.

Lao She weaves a unique story of the immigrant experience and sinophobia in the 1920s. Through the lens of Mr Ma and his son, Ma Wei, Lao She exposes the blantant stereotyping and racism directed at the Chinese, through clear and candid storytelling. An enjoyable and eye-opening read!

4/5

This was a very interesting book. I enjoyed reading it. It was both shocking and heartwarming. It was well wrote . It was interesting to read what it was like for a Chinese immigrant in the 1920. It was a slow burning romance but it was a perfect fit for the story. I loved how the romance develops. It was so shocking reading about how he was treated by some people. It did have Few pace issues as its mostly a medium pace but many parts get bogged down with the description and sometimes goes off on a tangent. Overall I rated it as a 3.5 star as it was better than an average rating.  

I was surprised by the relationship between father and son. It definitely wasn't plain sailing. It felt awkward at times as the son really didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps and was often resentful. 

I definitely recommend reading this book as it is s unique type or story and contains some great culture and cultural differences which were comical at times. I felt as there was more true to this story even though its fiction. 

Many thanks to the author and publishers for bringing us this very different and interesting story. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/mr-ma-and-son-by-lao-she-penguin-3-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

First of all, I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of the novel in return for an honest review.

The book tells the story of the epynomous Mr Ma and his son Ma Wei, newly arrived in 1920s London from China to inherit an antiques business from Mr Ma's deceased brother. The story follows the protagonists as they navigate racism and bigotry towards Chinese, while not failing to spare them in the depiction of their own shortcomings. The story is clearly a satire, and a notable one at that, but despite this the characters come across as highly plausible rather than just carticatures (which they clearly are).

Reading the novel nearly 100 years after its publication is quite special. One almost feels it's a contemporary creation (due to tone and wit), with immense historical accuracy. The story brings to life what London felt like to immigrants during those years, and how the racism that these immigrants experienced was ingrained in society and the day to day experiences of Brits. It's hard to ignore how much of this still persists, albeit perhaps less overt and not aimed at Chinese immigrants.

What is particulary smart is how the author doesn't put the immigrants on a pedestal, and actually highlights their own faults (again via caricaturistic descriptions, especially of Mr Ma). At the same time, the novel deconstructs some of the more gaudy stereotypes about English society itself, and while some bring a smile to one's lips, there is something powerful in highlighting faults on both sides. This seems to make the point that exactly because neither the immigrants nor their hosts are perfect, racism has no leg to stand on. The continued relevance of this analysis is quite striking.

The story is also well written and well paced (mostly). It's a book that is (very) suprisingly hard to put down. At times the author did go into rabbit holes describing some quaint aspects of English life during that time (hats, the collecting business, restaurants). This broke the pace, and was frankly a bit on the boring side.

I personally found the satire form of the novel a bit hard to relate to. Nothing wrong in the form or its execution (I can appreciate the artform while not liking it), but I found it hard to get excited about. I also found the story to be rather simplistic. More like an episode in a sitcom, without a clear point and with nothing really happening. I also found none of the characters likeable in the least - they were all very flawed and frankly disturbing. Again, these aspects are not objectively problems. Rather they made it difficult for me (personally, subjectively) to fall in love with this book.

I'm glad I read it, and would recommend it quite broadly though.

Very funny and thought provoking, a well written book set in the 20s. A Chinese family move to London, their difficulties and the prejudice.
it's light and multilayered. The author is excellent and I saw other book translated. This one is delightful and strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Such an awesome and light read i love this book soo muchh and will definitely recommend other people to read this one as well i love the plot♡ thank you netgalley for approving my request :)

The fact that this book is like 100 years old but the racism on it exists nowadays is worrying!

It is a very dense book, mainly tells lots of anecdotes about Mr Ma and his son in England during that period time.

I appreciate the note at the beginning about the author and the idea behind this book.