The Golden Age

Reading Marianne Andersen's book, the Golden Age is a magnificent way to revisit your childhood. She vividly creates a lovely world of childhood delights and traumas which will have you laughing and recalling the emotions, joys and delights of youth. Andersen is a fantastic writer who creates a world for you to inhabit. She spends time developing each character so that they are full and rich and you feel a love for them all. This is a fantastic book to read out loud to children as Andersen uses language to paint vibrant pictures that children will enjoy. She teaches about cultures and traditions in a way that will inspire conversations and learning with your children. I highly recommend this book to middle grade readers and families.

To consider The Golden Age, a beautifully written book, as just a children’s book would not be wrong. However, initially intended to read this book for my daughters, I found myself deeply invested in the story and selfishly reading it alone. The book is written intuitively, with attention paid to the psychology of a child, but in fact the experiences of the main [child] character, evoked my personal memories as a child. I could relate. Anderson’s character study and development is thoughtful and genuine. I would describe the experience of reading the story is like similar to reading a non-fiction biography. Another aspect of the book I really enjoyed was how well the writer understood Hong Kong people, culture and the city itself—her noticing the contrast between the left over colonial buildings in contrast to the modern high rises, her understanding of the zodiac animals and how she integrated them to her story, and even the way she expresses the locals’ conversations show her awareness and attention to details. In short, this is a must-read book for all, but particularly those interested in HK-life, those who want to move to HK, and those who want to tell their children a story and teach them diversity, I feel, would appreciate even more.