Independent bookshop to close, citing politics

Independent English bookstore Bleak House Books says it will close in October, citing political reasons.

The bookshop, which sells both new and secondhand English books, opened in San Po Kong in 2017.

“The backdrop to these developments is, of course, politics,” Albert Wan, the co-founder of Bleak House Books, said in a Facebook post.

“To be sure, what my wife Jenny, my kids, and I do in our daily lives is not overtly political. Jenny is a university professor, I sell books, and the kids are primary school students. But as George Orwell once remarked, ‘[i]n our age there is no such thing as “keeping out of politics”. All issues are political issues.’ This observation is as true today as it was in 1940 when Orwell first made it.”

Wan, an ex-lawyer from the United States, said he and his family will be leaving the city soon. “[G]iven the state of politics in Hong Kong, Jenny and I can no longer see a life for ourselves and our children in this city, at least in the near future.”

Bleak House Books will stay open till October 15.