Ju is a Burmese novelist, well known for her strong, intelligent female characters.
Despite her interest in writing, upon her mother's prodding, she pursued medical studies at the Institute of Medicine, Mandalay. She started writing while in medical school, and her first short story (ရာဇဝင်ထဲမှာမောင့်ကိုထားရစ်ခဲ့) was published in 1979. Her writing career took off in the late 1980s, with her debut novel, Remembrance (အမှတ်တရ), published in 1987.The bestseller novel stirred controversy for endorsing Western existentialist philosophy and portraying cohabiting unwed couples.
She has published fifteen novels (most of them were adapted into films), seven collections of short stories and seven collections of articles on the environment. She currently works as a co-founder of an HIV positive children orphanage and also a participant in the HIV/AIDS Media Initiative and Yadana Metta Foundation. Her writings now focus on environmental conservation.
I remember reading this book over a decade ago. Even if I don't remember the whole story, I remember it was a thick book and I enjoyed it a lot. But reading it again today validated those feelings. Even after these many years, my love for this book was renewed all over again and even a little bit more. The best thing about this book was that it featured many strong female characters. The woman who was born brave and fearless, the woman who took up courage for her baby, the woman who helped build strength for another woman; I really thank the author for introducing these amazing characters to us. Her writing also stirred up a lot of emotions. If I could collect my thoughts, I'd probably write my review in Burmese. For now, I'm looking forward to re-reading more of her books.