Miss Burma (Longlisted For The National Book Award For Fict)

Description: Review: Longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award Longlisted for the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice A New York Times Book Review Paperback Row Selection An Amazon Best Book of the Month (Literature & Fiction) KCRW Bookworm Best Books of 2017 An Indie Next Selection "Miss Burma is a timely exposition of trust after trauma. [It] also serves as a much-needed recalibration of history, one that redresses the narrative imbalance by placing other ethnic, non-Burmese points of view at the center of its story . . . In reimagining the extraordinary lives of her mother and grandparents, Craig produces some passages of exquisitely precise description . . . and brings one of Burma's many lost histories to vivid life."--New York Times Book Review "This multigenerational saga portrays the emergence of modern Burma--through British colonialism, wartime occupation by the Japanese, and the independence era . . . Craig ably controls the novel's historic sweep, and is unsparing in providing details of meticulous torture and wartime horror. She also conveys a strong sense of family."--New Yorker (Briefly Noted) "[An] epic new novel . . . The sweeping, multi-generational story of a family belonging to the Karen ethnic minority, Miss Burma charts both a political history and a deeply personal one--and of those incendiary moments when private and public motivations overlap."--Los Angeles Times "An epic roman � clef . . . Craig . . . masterfully renders the human condition in matters micro and vast . . . Like many of the best books, Miss Burma feels rooted in its time and place, while also laying bare timeless questions of loyalty, infidelity, patriotism, and identity--not to mention the globally perpetuated unfair treatment of women."--Elle "[A] riveting account of the treacheries, fractures, and courageous acts of wartime."--Jane Ciabattari, BBC (Ten Books to Read in May) "Craig expects a good deal of her audience in terms of their appetite for Burmese history, and I hope that many will rise to the occasion, because the rewards are rich . . . Craig has called writing this novel 'a political act'; it is also clearly a deeply personal one. She weaves those threads together for us, showing us the ordinary human failings behind what often seem like clear-cut cases of good and evil . . . While this novel cannot untangle ethnic identity from tribalism, it is a courageous attempt to broaden the way we see others and ourselves, both personally and politically, at home and abroad."--Rosalie Metro, Los Angeles Review of Books "A gorgeously-written novel that illuminates the universalities of fear and the desires for dignity and freedom."--Literary Hub (15 Books to Read This May) "A story of how modern-day Burma came to be, as well as the tale of one of the most violent and turbulent eras in world history played out. At once beautiful and heartbreaking . . . An incredible family saga."--Refinery29 (Favorite Books of 2017--So Far) "An ambitious novel . . . Miss Burma is powerful in showing the relentless effect of the political on the personal while covering an important swath of history--and all the while telling an awfully good story."--Christian Science Monitor "While the book is set in Burma, its real subjects are love and beauty over generations. I was knocked out by the ambition and accomplishment of Charmaine Craig's novel. And, yes, there is a beauty pageant and you will meet Miss Burma."--Michael Silverblatt, KCRW Bookworm "Miss Burma . . . throbs with brutality, insight and authenticity, taking us deep into the human dynamics of Burma and its tumultuous history . . . [An] ambitious second novel. With Miss Burma, the country's emotional, cultural and political landscape becomes textured, fraught and, yes, positively epic . . . An intricate and multidimensional portrait of a family, a country and an era . . . An epic novel that is as luminous, intelligent and surprising as Miss Burma herself."--Post Magazine "Miss Burma is the novel Charmaine Craig was destined to write . . . [An] epic."--Orange Coast "This is a fascinating story and a sobering look at the horrors of civil war and its cause--maniacal nationalism. You will never again look at Myanmar in the same way."--Eyes on World Cultures "[A] tale of love and disenchantment, loyalty and resentment, recognition and isolation . . . Whether Craig is describing the family's escape through the jungle during WWII or student protests in 1962, she transports us to the thick of the conflicts . . . Based on real lives, Craig's historical novel challenges our assumptions about everything from beauty queens to rebels and reminds us that the course of a nation's history is often determined by the fallibility of individuals."--Booklist (starred review) "Spanning generations and multiple dictators, Craig's epic novel provides a rich, complex account of Burma and its place within the larger geopolitical theater . . . The language and the images unfold with grace, horror, and intimacy."--Publishers Weekly "Rich and layered, a complex weaving of national and personal trauma . . . Craig has written a captivating second novel that skillfully moves from moments of quiet intimacy and introspection to passages portraying the swift evolution of political events as multiple groups and nations vie for control of Burma's future. Mesmerizing and haunting."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "[An] epic new novel . . . distinctive for its representation of a voice not often documented in history. Craig vividly illustrates the intertwining of the political and the personal . . . Fans of Jan-Philipp Sendker's The Art of Hearing Heartbeats will find this to be a darker, more nuanced story . . . Readers with an eye to world history and current events will find this novel riveting."--Library Journal "A haunting story . . . With Miss Burma, Charmaine Craig accomplishes something many historical novelists do not: the successful depiction of great sweeps of momentous events along with intimate scenes that linger over the most minor, evocative details . . . As extraordinary as Louisa--who becomes the face of her country's future--this novel expertly chronicles a people's resolve and the metamorphosis of a complicated land."--Washington Independent Review of Books "This novel provides a timely insight into the troubled recent history of this Southeast Asian country . . . Astonishing true events . . . provide the book with its title, and its powerful opening and closing scenes . . . [A] heartbreaking story . . . One of the author's main achievements lies in forcing us to consider the intersection of the personal and political, and the extent to which individuals are prepared to sacrifice themselves for the greater good."--New York Journal of Books "Charmaine Craig wields powerful and vivid prose to illuminate a country and a family trapped not only by war and revolution, but also by desire and loss. Both epic and intimate, Miss Burma is a compelling and disturbing trip through Burmese history and politics."--Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer "A sweeping novel of Burma and its complicated history, told from the perspective of people whose voices have been systematically erased from the official record. Charmaine Craig writes about war and exile with an exquisite mix of tenderness and intelligence. A brilliant book."--Laila Lalami, author of The Moor's Account "Miss Burma is a riveting portrayal of human resourcefulness and heroism, and of their inadequacy before the great cataclysms of history. This engrossing novel movingly affirms--in its characters, but also in the elegance and fineness of its craft--the perseverance of dignity in the face of our helplessness."--Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You "Miss Burma is a book which resonates with meaning, of how we are all actors in our histories and the histories of our nations, it disrupts our settled sense that the past is the past, and shows how it reaches forward to touch the future. It is a powerful, moving and important novel."--Aminatta Forna, author of The Hired Man "In beautiful and evocative prose, Miss Burma reminds us of the many ways that war and political repression can scar generations. Yet the real wonder of this powerful book rests in its strong belief that love and determination--and even loss--can help illuminate a path out of the darkest moments. A gem of a novel."--Maaza Mengiste, author of Beneath the Lion's Gaze





Author Biography: Charmaine Craig is a faculty member in the Department of Creative Writing at UC Riverside, and the descendant of significant figures in Burma's modern history. A former actor in film and television, she studied literature at Harvard University and received her MFA from the University of California, Irvine. Her first novel, The Good Men (Riverhead), was a national bestseller translated into six languages.