Reading The Stairway Guide’s Daughter, I found it hard to believe that John Burgess did not live a past life centuries ago among the ancient Khmer. He conveys such intimacy with the details of daily life, and he tells his tale of ritual, betrayal, family and romantic love with both elegance and affection. While this novel is rich in history and atmosphere, it is also a page-turner, with stakes destined to affect the whole of Khmer civilization.
--Kim Fay, author of The Map of Lost Memories, Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel
John Burgess once again takes us to a world and time as far away from our own lives as can possibly be. And yet, within pages, we are right there, on a mountaintop in northernmost Cambodia, nearly a thousand years ago, fully immersed in a holy war filled with intrigue, danger, loss, and forbidden love. I will long remember this story of Jorani and the years where an awkward girl became a strong woman and the mouthpiece of the gods. A compelling story told both simply, and beautifully.
--Sue Guiney, author of A Clash of Innocents and Out of the Ruins
This deftly written, poignant and absorbing novel revisits the medieval empire of Angkor, the scene of John Burgess’ previous books. It’s told by a young woman named Jorani who makes a living in the 1100s helping pilgrims to scale the 1,500-foot cliff that separates the splendid Hindu temple-monastery known as Preah Vihear from the plain below. As Jorani grows up, she copes with romance, a demanding Brahmin mistress, a royal succession crisis and a civil war, but she never loses her attachment to the everyday-ness of Angkorian life. The Stairway Guide’s Daughter is a joy to read from start to finish.
--David Chandler, author of A History of Cambodia
John Burgess weaves an entrancing tale around ancient Cambodia's ‘Temple in the Clouds,’ evoking a powerful sense of place while showing a deep understanding of the forces that shaped life in the great Angkorian empire. In doing so he taps into a rich source of nostalgia for those of us who have been privileged to climb to the summit of Preah Vihear.
--Milton Osborne, acclaimed author of River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekong, and Phnom Penh: A Cultural and Literary History
--Kim Fay, author of The Map of Lost Memories, Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel
John Burgess once again takes us to a world and time as far away from our own lives as can possibly be. And yet, within pages, we are right there, on a mountaintop in northernmost Cambodia, nearly a thousand years ago, fully immersed in a holy war filled with intrigue, danger, loss, and forbidden love. I will long remember this story of Jorani and the years where an awkward girl became a strong woman and the mouthpiece of the gods. A compelling story told both simply, and beautifully.
--Sue Guiney, author of A Clash of Innocents and Out of the Ruins
This deftly written, poignant and absorbing novel revisits the medieval empire of Angkor, the scene of John Burgess’ previous books. It’s told by a young woman named Jorani who makes a living in the 1100s helping pilgrims to scale the 1,500-foot cliff that separates the splendid Hindu temple-monastery known as Preah Vihear from the plain below. As Jorani grows up, she copes with romance, a demanding Brahmin mistress, a royal succession crisis and a civil war, but she never loses her attachment to the everyday-ness of Angkorian life. The Stairway Guide’s Daughter is a joy to read from start to finish.
--David Chandler, author of A History of Cambodia
John Burgess weaves an entrancing tale around ancient Cambodia's ‘Temple in the Clouds,’ evoking a powerful sense of place while showing a deep understanding of the forces that shaped life in the great Angkorian empire. In doing so he taps into a rich source of nostalgia for those of us who have been privileged to climb to the summit of Preah Vihear.
--Milton Osborne, acclaimed author of River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekong, and Phnom Penh: A Cultural and Literary History