Synopses & Reviews
"With vivid prose, Karen Ma takes us on a momentous journey with a Chinese family as it tries to grow new roots in a foreign land."Geling Yan, author of Banquet Bug, White Snake, and The Flowers of War
Karen Ma's debut novel chronicles two Chinese sisters, one raised in China during the desolate years of the Cultural Revolution; the other in Japan during the freewheeling years of bubble capitalism. They reunite as adults in Tokyo in the early 1990s, and as the sisters circle warily, their distrust grows, fueled by family lies and secrets. Exploring themes of identity, alienation, love, jealousy, and family obligations in the face of cultural and geographic adversity, ultimately each must confront a fundamental question: what's the meaning of home when your roots aren't secure?
Karen Ma is the author of The Modern Madame Butterfly (Tuttle Publishing, 2006). She has lived a combined twenty years in China and Japan working as a writer and journalist.
Synopsis
Novel about two dysfunctional sisters with intertwined stories in China and Japan, like the Sternwood sisters from "Big Sleep".
Synopsis
Fiction. Asian Studies. EXCESS BAGGAGE chronicles two Chinese sisters, one raised in China during the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution; the other in Japan during the freewheeling years of bubble capitalism. They reunite as adults in Tokyo in the early 1990s and their family history soon catches up with them. As the sisters circle warily, their distrust grows, fueled by family lies and secrets. Exploring themes of identiy, alienation, love, jealousy, and family obligations in the face of cultural and geographic adversity, each must confront a fundamental question: what's the meaning of home when your roots aren't secure?
About the Author
Karen Ma was born in China, raised in Hong Kong and Japan, and educated in the U.S. She holds a M.A in Chinese Literature from the University of Washington (Seattle, U.S.) and is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.
Formerly a news reporter for Kyodo News and NHK Radio Japan, she has also written for The International Herald Tribune, New York News Day, The Japan Times, Kyoto Journal, South China Morning Post and the Delhi-based Mint. She is also the author of "The Modern Madame Butterfly: Fantasy and Reality of Japanese Cross-cultural Relationships" (Tuttle, 1996).
She currently teaches Mandarin Chinese at an international school in New Delhi, India. She lives with her husband and their two children.