Excess baggage - Karen Ma

"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 ofBanquet Bug,White Snake, andThe 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 Mais the author ofThe Modern Madame Butterfly(Tuttle Publishing, 2006). She has lived a combined twenty years in China and Japan working as a writer and journalist.