Diamonds In My Pocket
Synopsis:
Only child of a beautiful blond English expatriate and the brilliant scion of an upper class Thai family, Amanda Kovattana came of age in the long-vanished world of aristocratic Bangkok. In this exquisitely-rendered memoir, Kovattana produces a chiaroscuro canvas full of sights and sounds and smells, of daily lives textured by honor and tradition, of a family ruptured by deceit and jealousy. Caught in a web of tensions between her mother and father, between East and West, the Old World and the New, the author finally uncovers the long-buried secrets of her own soul.
Book Excerpt:
On the plane to Bangkok, I felt myself becoming an American as though a master switch was being thrown West to East. I go from being Asian, petite, and demure in a big blond world to being bigger, whiter, and more aggressive in an Asian world—my hair noticeably brown in the sea of black heads filling the cabin. I felt strong. Powerful. Independent. The flight attendants, all from Taiwan, assumed I spoke English. The one constant in the transformation was that I continued to be a foreigner.
Topics/Categories:
animistic buddhism, Bangkok, bicultural/binational identity, biracial, family saga, LGBT, mixed marriage, Thailand
Genre:
Asian-American Literature, Asian-American Studies - Interest
Type of Work:
Publishers:
Purchase From:
Original Publish Date:
2008-04-22
ISBNs:
978-981-05-9584-5
Formats:
Quality Paperback
- Send To A Friend
- Bookmark With:
