Description
Book SynopsisIn 1980s Burma, the British ambassador's son goes missing.
Discovered in the north of the country, Michael Atwood is in imminent danger, trapped between sides fighting a bitter civil war and with no way of getting back to Rangoon. His best hope of salvation is to trust Thuza, a ruby smuggler who offers to help him escape.
Beautiful and deeply scarred, Thuza has spent her entire life in a frontier town between rebel and government forces, never choosing a side but trying to make a living from both. For Thuza, the ambassador's son is her ticket out of poverty. For Than, an ambitious military officer, exploiting those caught up in the war offers an opportunity for promotion and distinction.
But as all three learn to their cost, in this exotic, enigmatic and savage country, everyone has a price.
This is a tale of ambition, salvation and hope that confirms Lucy Cruickshanks as a master storyteller.
Trade ReviewLucy Cruickshanks' writing is powerful, pacy, vivid and involving * Isabel Wolff, author of A Vintage Affair *
Burma springs to life through Cruickshanks' beautiful prose * Dinah Jefferies, author of The Tea Planter's Wife *
Gripping and thought-provoking * Candis, Book of the Month *
A gutsy, atmospheric thriller * Woman & Home *
An intelligent and incredibly impactful read that stays with the reader long after turning the final page * Novelicious *
An enjoyable and well-written novel * South China Morning Post *
Set in a very difficult period of Burma's history, this novel brings the rawness and uncertainty of the times to life in the later 20th Century. There are very carefully observed mannerisms amongst the local people, and the oppressive times in which the people of Burma were living are acutely portrayed. It cleverly sets the historical for anyone who is going to visit in the 21st Century who wants to gain a sense of the country of Myanmar today * Trip Fiction *
A beautifully atmospheric novel * Woman's World *
For someone who knew relatively nothing of the situation in Burma, this book is a real eye opener!
Imagine living under such fear and not only from the obvious enemy but from your neighbour or man on the street who could just as easily betray you.
Lucy has done a great deal of timeless and detailed research... and made it one heck on an insight into a better understanding of Burmese history
* BookTrail *
Cruickshanks is skilled in her ability to marry her fiction with well-researched historical events. Indeed, having had a prior interest in Myanmar and its recent history, Cruickshanks effectively depicted a visceral world of bloodshed, without compromising on historical integrity * The Student Newspaper *
I enjoyed Cruickshanks' handling of her material, and her research is thorough and fascinating. She weaves it all together into an atmospheric, evocative novel * Frost Magazine *
