Red Pockets

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING

“A mixture of memoir and polemic, Red Pockets cleverly connects the familial with the global. . . . Sensitive and sensible.” —The Scotsman

“One of the most unusual and powerful books I’ve read in a long time. . . . A moving and imaginative memoir.” —Rosemary Goring, The Herald

“Mah’s rich, reflective book is focused on a different type of connection between the past and the present . . . I had not read a book making these links before, and it is a compelling and moving narrative.” —Maya Goodfellow, The Guardian

“Fear of the future, an ache for the past, the present awash with disquiet: into this turmoil, Alice Mah’s book appears like a little red boat, keeping hope afloat against all odds.” —Anita Roy, The Guardian

“Mah’s writing is intelligent and highly observational . . . she’s a strong, lucid storyteller.” ―Geographical

“Red Pockets is a marvel: a work that wrestles with diasporic dreams, ecological destruction, filial devotion and the fragile, ferocious thread of our connection and responsibility to one another, even across the great divides of time and geography. Consumed not just by an apocalyptic vision, but by the collapse of the idea of hope, Alice Mah sets out on a journey to understand what we owe the generations that precede us. But as she journeys across a suffering planet, her focus shifts; how can we be good ancestors as well as good descendants?” —Kyo Maclear, award-winning author of Unearthing and Birds Art Life

“A beautifully written, deeply fascinating and richly thought-provoking book which looks, bravely, at what it means to live at this most ecologically destructive time; about what we inherit and what we leave behind. Moving, important and finely crafted.” —Lucy Jones, author of Losing Eden

“Red Pockets is a fascinating exploration of the linkages between ancestral inheritance, diasporic belonging and our climate future. Mah takes us on a keenly observed, immersive journey, from an astute sociological portrait of a Chinese clan village to toxic petrochemical towns to the green hills of Glasgow, and offers surprising, beautifully interconnected insights on material and psychic debt, climate despair, trauma and hope. I read it in one sitting, which took me on a moving and often unexpected journey.” —Aube Rey Lescure, author of River East, River West

“Mah asks beautiful questions on grief, climate and identity that are as urgent as they are pensive. The result is a spiritual Bildungsroman that envelops the reader in a meditation on past, present and future.” —Jenny Lau, author of An A-Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included)