Carmarthen Chinese takeaway owner lands £10,000 book publishing deal

A Chinese takeaway owner from West Wales has won a book publishing deal worth £10,000.

Julie Ma from Carmarthen won the Richard and Judy 'Search for a Bestseller' competition for her book 'Happy Families'.

The novel tells the story of three generations of a Chinese immigrant family living and working in their takeaway in Wales.

Past winners of the competition have gone on to achieve success and high book sales.

The idea was born when Julie decided to tackle the stereotypical view of British-Chinese women she saw on TV, film and in books.

Julie’s early love of reading and writing came from the support of primary school teachers and visits to the local library and bookshop.

“I would like everybody to read my book but especially anyone who has ever been in a shop and given a thought to the other life led by the person serving them.

"Everybody has something more to them than being the woman behind the counter in Next or the man on the till in Aldi. Or even the girl who’s serving you a Chinese takeaway!” Julie said.

Julie always had the desire to write and despite fears that her writing wasn't interesting enough, she set about writing a story she recognised.

Julie Ma told ITV Wales: "People have an idea of what it is to be Chinese or what it is to be Welsh, or what it is to be British and I think you can be all three of those things at the same time which perhaps hasn't been reflected before [in the media]."

Julie's Grandfather arrived in Wales in the 1930's from China where her family first ran a Chinese laundry business. Her parents opened a Chinese takeaway in the 1970's.

After graduating during the recession in the late 2000's with a Drama degree from Aberystwyth University, Julie worked in an eclectic mix of jobs, trying to find her 'niche' before taking over the family business when both her parents died.

'Happy Families' is a family comedy about the lives of three generations of an immigrant family.

While working behind the counter, Julie used the takeaway as a rich resource; getting to know her customers meant she was introduced to dozens of stories. She replaced the high drama in her writing with every-day drama and decided writing could be her 'niche'.

Despite early success in coming runner-up in the Orange Short Story Prize, early drafts of 'Happy Families' were sent out to publishers only to be rejected.

Refusing to give in to rejection and following her gut instinct, 'Happy Families' will be published by Welbeck Publishing on the 18th February 2021.