Novelist Emma Pei Yin ran away from Hong Kong as a teenager to start fresh in Australia. But she found herself repeatedly drawn back home whenever she put pen to paper.

Emma grew up in England and Hong Kong. But her life in Hong Kong wasn’t so much about the neon skyscrapers as it was about her family’s ancestral village, tucked away in the New Territories.

Emma spent her school holidays there with her grandparents, learning how to take care of the family cemetery and joining in Chinese Festivals.

Sometimes her grandfather would share his memories of the Second World War, when the Japanese military invaded and occupied Hong Kong.

As Emma became into a teenager, her relationship with her parents deteriorated. She eventually decided to leave them and Hong Kong, coming to Australia to make a life for herself as a writer.

But whenever she wrote, Emma found herself drawn back to Hong Kong; to the hundreds of islands, the fishing villages on stilts, the mountains, woodlands and beaches – all the things that tourists who think of Hong Kong as a city of neon lights and free Wi-fi don’t know about.

Content warning: This episode of Conversations contains discussion about sexual assault.

Further information

When Sleeping Women Wake is published by Hachette.

Help and support is always available. You can call Lifeline 24 hours a day on 13 11 14.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris and first broadcast in 2025, the executive producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores family dynamics, multiculturalism, China, Hong Kong, modern history, writing, books, literature, historical fiction, Japanese occupation, World War 2, assault, victim-blaming, abortion, filmmaking, black sheep, family honour, London, forgiveness.

Encore: The hidden corners of Emma's Hong Kong — fishing villages, beaches and ancestral graveyards

Conversations

Encore: The hidden corners of Emma's Hong Kong — fishing villages, beaches and ancestral graveyards