Generational story spanning decades, inspired by the authors own family history! Pulled in by the prologue but then it does slow down a little. The chapters are told through third person but we get switching POVs about Khin, Benny, and Louisa (occasionally). I liked Benny’s chapters the best-they were more well paced and showing what was happening whereas Khin and especially Louisa’s early chapters, are telling over showing and have way too much minute detailing.

It slows a lot in the middle and I thought about DNFing several times but I really wanted to continue learning about Burma and Karen history-which I couldn’t find many other novels about so I stuck it out. I was glad I did though because it does pick up the pacing again. Also I didn’t know much about Burma but I’ve been learning so much through this novel. I definitely want to continue to read/learn more about the country and its history!

It’s a very dark and heavy book because of the war and violence it’s set around. I’m seeing a lot of history that’s now being repeated, in terms of talking about the colonization of Burma and inequality/enslavement of Karens (very Israel-Palestine). Also later with the dictatorship and US involvement/support; it’s something the U.S. has repeatedly done to many counties around the world.

I really didn’t like Khin, she preaches loyalty and gets upset with Benny for his infidelity but then cheats on him the second he’s gone, more than once?! And the way she treats her daughter in the later chapters is awful. Very flawed characters, which I do usually like, but there was not much shown to make Khin redeemable in my opinion.

Becomes very philosophical at times, I think if the focus of the book had been narrowed/edited down it would’ve flowed better and been more engaging.

Based on the title and prologue I was expecting more of Louisa but she’s a minor character and we barely get her story until the end.

In the end I think the first third and last third are the best, middle slumps and slows down dragging the story. I think it’s a book that should be read and I’d recommend! Even though I didn’t love it, it’s very educational and opened my eyes to a piece of history I had never learned about. 

A difficult read due to the content of the book, this is still a vital story depicting events in Burma/Mayanmar in the 20th Century. After reading this booked I needed to look up further history around the events described to better understand the context of the narrative. Some of the editing / writing was a little difficult to follow, however it is definitely a recommended read. 

I really enjoyed the way this story interwove a family story with the history of Burma from the 1940s-60s. I think this book will be more impactful if you are familiar with the history but you could stop and look things up as you go along too but there are many historical references. 

The way the story was both compelling as a story while critically examining the way race and ethnicity function in Burma, British colonialism, and covert western manipulation of politics was so interesting. 

A challenging but rewarding read.