Nicely Made in China’s (NMiC) latest partner is the Hong Kong French bookstore Parenthèses run by Swiss-born Madeline Progin and French-born Emmanuelle Le Moing. They are both long term Hong Kong residents. We met Madeline in the bookstore, which covers 150sq.m, and is located in the heart of Lan Kwai Fong.  It beckons book-lovers to browse through the latest francophone publishers’ books, with fiction and non-fiction, french magazines and French DVDs. Nicely Made in China met Madeline for a chat.

Madeline, can you present Parenthèses to Nicely Made in China readers?

I took over Parenthèses in 1990 and had to learn fast how to run a bookstore,my passion for reading helped me a lot. First, we gave the store the look and feel of a real bookstore. Then we met with all the major publishers in Paris to ensure we would receive the latest published books: now 15o to 300 kgs of books arrive every week.  We aim to present the books in a manner that entices our clients to take a voyage of discovery and pleasure.

What subjects do you cover?

Oh, we have books on all sorts of subjects. On our shelves you will find francophone literature from France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada and Africa. Of course we also have international literature translated into French. We work with both big and small publishers. Among the independent ones we receive books from the Swiss “Zoe”, the French “Belles Lettres” or  ”Transboréal” which publishes travel writing. Our China section is of course our strong suit, be it novels, travel writing or manuals on learning Mandarin. We have a good children’s section with novels, “bandes dessinées” and school manuals. There are also detective novels, coffee table books – and let’s not forget our travel guide section.

Do you read a lot?  Who are you favorites authors?

I am a voracious reader: I read 3 to 5 books a week. I like different “genres”, mainly fiction.  My favorite books recently have been “Rosa Candida” by Audur Ava Olafsdottir, “Chroniques hongkongaises” by Gérard Henry,  Michel Houellebecq’s “La carte et le territoire”, Pierre Szalowski‘s “Le froid modifie la trajectoire des poissons” and also books by Swiss writers Noelle Revaz and Martin Suter.

I also would like to mention the re-publication in French of “The World of Suzie Wong” by Gope, a small French publisher, and also a classic which had not been seen in decades “Hong Kong et Macao” by Joseph Kessel published by éditions Gallimard.

You also sell newspapers and magazines…

Yes we do! We have arranged with Cathay Pacific to receive newspapers and magazines 3 times a week. The weeklies published on Thursday in France arrive here on Friday -something we’re quite proud of, but yet we get complaints that this is not fast enough!

What?  The French complaining?  Never!

Can clients order books?

Yes they can! Actually almost every book arriving at Parenthèses has been ordered or if it has not, I know which client will like it – after all these years I tend to know who likes what!

Parenthèses also organizes literary events on a regular basis…

Each month we organize a couple of reading and book signing sessions with visiting authors. In the past we have received Michel Houellebecq, Caroline Puel, Guillaume Musso and the photographer Bettina Rheims. You can learn all about it on our Facebook page.

Parenthèses address:

Duke of Wellington House, 2nd Floor

14-24 Wellington Street, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2526-9215
Email: parentez@netvigator.com

Opening times:
10 am – 6.30 pm Monday to Friday
9.30 am – 5.30 pm Saturday
Closed Sundays & Bank holidays