Description
In 2010, bookish 22-year-old Shannon follows her Eurasian boyfriend to Hong Kong, eager to forge a new love story in his hometown. But when work sends him to London a month later, Shannon embarks on a wide-eyed newcomer’s journey through Hong Kong – alone. She teaches in a local school as the only foreigner, explores Asia with other young expats and discovers family history in Hong Kong, all while trying to hold on to her thwarted romance. The city enchants her, forcing her to question her plans. Soon, she must make a choice between her new life and the love that first brought her to Asia.
“Year of Fire Dragons is not only a riveting coming of age story, but also a testament to the distance people will travel for love. Shannon Young is the voice of the millennial generation and anyone who has ever built a new life abroad.” – Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of Good Chinese Wife
“Year of Fire Dragons evokes all of the wonder of being in love as a young expat while capturing the true romance of Hong Kong. As you delight in Shannon Young’s deftly written coming-of-age story, you might just find yourself falling for this fiery city where East meets West.” – Jocelyn Eikenburg, Speaking of China
Also read an interview with Shannon Young at Speaking of China, and her guest post there: My Very Own Mr. Darcy, Except Talkative and Half Chinese
“Life’s twists and turns are like the tail of a dragon, but this intrepid American Millennial holds on tight to her dreams to carve out her place (creatively, financially and romantically) in Hong Kong – a world far from home. Shannon Young’s delightful memoir shows us that true discoveries are made when we let go of who we think we are and embrace who we might become.” – Leza Lowitz, author of Here Comes The Sun: A Yogi’s Journey of Adapting and Adopting in Japan
Shannon speaks to RTHK’s Noreen Mir about how she writes and her appearance at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival (podcast)
“Year of Fire Dragons begins and ends with a dragon dance celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. What transpires in between is a delightful account of one year in a young American woman’s life in one of the most exciting and unique cities in the world. Like a museum tapestry that fascinates with the events it records as much as its intricate craftsmanship, Young’s book is as engaging a memoir as it is a treat in rhetoric and imagery in the descriptions of the picturesque, multi-faceted arena of Hong Kong’s modern life. The love story that is the core of the novel forms the connecting threads that hold this unique tapestry together and make it whole.” – Bookish Asia
Q&A with Shannon Young at the Los Angeles Review of Books
“Young is a talented writer. Her knowledge of food in particular truly gets to the core of Hong Kong culture.” – The Nanfang
“Amid the smoke, sweat and sounds of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong, American author Shannon Young reeled from the sudden events that had unfolded. The true story of those events is presented with honesty, heart and humor throughout Year of Fire Dragons.” – read Shannon’s interview with GB Times
“Five years ago I had never written anything other than school assignments, sporadic journal entries, and letters. I never thought my own stories were worth telling. But when I moved to Hong Kong from the US, I found myself needing to process my experiences in a new way. I started writing about the place, the sensations, the buildings, the food. I wanted to describe the festivals and the crowds and the sounds in this world that was all new to me.” – Shannon writes a guest post for The Reading Life
“The way [Shannon] writes about her first impressions of Hong Kong and the vibrancy of the city remind me of why I am happy to pack up and move back only nine months after leaving.” – Expat Lingo
