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"A beautiful and poignant story of one family during the most violent and turbulent years of world history, Miss Burma is a powerful novel of love and war, colonialism and ethnicity, and the ties of blood. Miss Burma tells the story of modern-day Burma through the eyes of Benny and Khin, husband and wife, and their daughter Louisa. After attending school in Calcutta, Benny settles in Rangoon, then part of the British Empire, and falls in love with Khin, a woman who is part of a long-persecuted ethnic minority group, the Karen. World War II comes to Southeast Asia, and Benny and Khin must go into hiding in the eastern part of the country during the Japanese Occupation, beginning a journey that will lead them to change the country's history. After the war, the British authorities make a deal with the Burman nationalists, led by Aung San, whose party gains control of the country. When Aung San is assassinated, his successor ignores the pleas for self-government of the Karen people and other ethnic groups, and in doing so sets off what will become the longest-running civil war in recorded history. Benny and Khin's eldest child, Louisa, has a danger-filled, tempestuous childhood and reaches prominence as Burma's first beauty queen, soon before the country falls to dictatorship. As Louisa navigates her new-found fame, she is forced to reckon with her family's past, the West's ongoing covert dealings in her country, and her own loyalty to the cause of the Karen people. Based on the story of the author's mother and grandparents, Miss Burma is a captivating portrait of how modern Burma came to be, and of the ordinary people swept up in the struggle for self-determination and freedom"--… (more)
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It's told as a very personal story . Benny is an Anglo/Indian/ Jewish young man working for the British Customs service in Rangoon. Benny meets and falls in love with Khin, a young women from the long persecuted ethnic group of the " Karen'". After Benny and Khin marry, WW11 forces them to flee Rangoon with baby Louisa. Benny and Khin do not speak the same languages and another man, Saw Lay, a dear friend of Benny's, and also an ethnic Karen , helps Khin and Benny communicate. The story is told through several generation and we learn more from the adult Louisa and her husband. There are some scenes of war and torture , and overall , this is relatively dark read, but very thought provoking and insightful .
A fascinating and fairly complex story, well worth the read. 4. 5 stars.
The book has at its heart a couple, a Jewish businessman born in Rangoon, and a Karen woman, one of the minority
This novel, which is based on the author's own family history, has a very different context, exploring the long history of oppression by the Burmese majority against minorities like the Karen. It's a massive history, but by focussing on the experience of one family, Craig makes the horrors of WW2 and invasion by the Japanese, political oppression, American intervention in the politics of the region - all very human, very personal. Like all the best fiction, it made me want to understand more about the region, and read more. And it seemed terribly timely, in the light of the current situation in Burma. I particuarly admired the picture of Khin, who despite everything the world threw at her, was tough, a survivor, whilst at the same time struggling.
"...when she thought of how in desperation to provide for the children she’d started trading in peanut oil and cheroots and betel leaf, becoming part of an imprecise network of traders hawking their wares at open markets across the hot, wet, forested hills of eastern Mon State—what she remembered was the hours and hours, the weeks and months of walking. Walking without the burden of anyone or anything but what she had to trade. What she remembered was the fog, the damp, the rain that came slanting across the sky like relief, the watchful trees, the hungry mothers at the markets, the muddy paths that ruined her feet, the vastness of the peaceful sky, and the fields and fields of rice. Certain days, she would head out into the depth of those fields—unsure of whether she was crossing into enemy territory—and the lush green stalks seemed to regard her, in turn, an indistinct figure walking in an indistinct place."
This was a fascinating look at the history of a part of the world most US citizens know little about. But it was a tedious read at time, as lots of philosophizing is done by the characters throughout the story. It is based on the real backstory of her family, and I appreciated the chance to learn more about her people. Those who enjoy international fiction and the nuances of history will find this one of interest.
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Not so much as a touch from Khin. And now, posed with her before the chapel, he was told that they must ritualistically pay off a string of villagers blocking the boulder-strewn path that led to his Buick and by extension their new home, that private sphere created for the very purpose of satisfying their desire for closeness.
Rather it seemed to her that baptism was a desperation to submerge doubt in the rescuing waters of belief, a desperation to wash away aeons of suffering with the promise of salvation.
Another moment passed and, as if from a distance, he looked back at their hands, still clasped uncomfortably. Those hands appeared to be trying to hold on to the difficulty that he and Khin had encountered while apart, and trying to loosen themselves of culpability for having clawed their way through everything
She had done her time as the submissive daughter, as the symbol of integration, assimilation, subjugation: as “Miss Burma,” as “Ne Win’s whore.” She had done her time as the victim of ethnic woundedness, of slander, of the regime’s ruthlessness. Oh, she loved her parents. And she would be very sorry to leave her sisters. But her time in exile was over, and she was ready to stand up actively for those who were oppressed. One could achieve nothing of greatness without risk.
Unfortunately I struggled with this book, finding the pace extremely slow and the writing style dense, remote and inaccessible. The story is dark with scenes of torture, rape and violence. I knew very little about Burmese history other than it was a British colony at one time so I did find the political, historical and cultural information interesting but overall found the book overwritten and awkward. I eventually found myself skimming the book, avoiding the story in favor of the history.
Miss Burma has all the ingredients for an excellent novel and it would have been an excellent story if the author had been more focused on the characters. This book has increased my interest in reading more about this country and it’s history.