The Jacaranda Tree — H.E. Bates

This is H. E. Bates's acclaimed novel about Burma. During World War II, a small English community are forced to flee when Japanese forces invade Burma. Paterson, the manager of a rice mill, organizes the evacuation and takes with him his Burmese mistress and her young brother. The rest of the party take along their prejudices, their pettiness, and their squabbles, and a small enclave of English insularity moves north through Burma. Inevitably, as the journey continues, bitterness, tension, and insoluble conflict unfold. . . Inspired by Bates's period of service in the Eastern theater of war, The Jacaranda Tree skillfully evokes the atmosphere in Burma during the chaos of invasion.