How this US writer’s Hong Kong love story got its ‘Ferry Tale’ ending
When Shannon Young moved to the city to be with her boyfriend, she did not expect it to mark the start of her literary career
Not everyone is willing to share their love stories with strangers, but writer Shannon Young finds fulfilment in documenting her own for the world to see.
The 29-year-old American has already penned 15 books, 11 of which are fantasy and science fiction novels. Her early publications though – a memoir and a love story – draw heavily from her life in Hong Kong.
It all started in 2007 at a fencing club in London, where Young met a young Eurasian man who was to change her life forever.
“He was originally from Hong Kong but going to school here [in Britain], and we immediately hit it off. At the time, he was going to be living in London, and I was going to be returning to my hometown in Arizona to finish my degree.”
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The pair’s long-distance relationship went on for longer than they had anticipated. Nearly three years later, in 2010, the bookish then 22-year-old followed her love to Hong Kong after finding a teaching position at a primary school in Kowloon Bay, hoping this would be their happy ending after years of living apart.