Novel
Smile as They Bow
Nu Nu Yi · 1994
Synopsis
At the Taungbyon festival, near Mandalay, where thousands of villagers come to honour the nats, the spirits of Burmese tradition, Daisy Bond, a cross-dressing medium in his fifties, is among the most renowned natkadaws. His young assistant and lover, Min Min, bought as a child by the medium, endures his humiliations, until he falls for a young beggar girl with a beautiful voice, Pan Nyo, and Daisy Bond's jealousy is aroused.
Context
Dated 1994, the novel was blocked for more than twelve years by the military government's censorship. Translated by Alfred Birnbaum and Thi Thi Aye, it was published in New York in 2008, the first contemporary Burmese novel brought out in English by a major publisher. It also describes gay life, the festival's petty thieves and the history of this cult, which the Burmese kings had banned and the British restored. It has not been translated into French.
Who it is for
For entering the world of the nat mediums, between popular fervour, desire and jealousy.
Prizes and reception
Shortlisted in 2007 for the Man Asian Literary Prize, it divided critics: Kirkus found it mannered, the Complete Review found it engaging.