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The critically acclaimed Burmese author Wendy Law Yone has lived in exile since 1967 - first in the United States and now in Britain.

Her father, Edward Law Yone, was an influential newspaper editor who was imprisoned without trial for five years following the military coup in Burma in 1962.

Wendy herself was arrested and interrogated for two weeks by the country's secret police.

At home in London, she is closely watching events in her native country, as people in Burma take part in elections for the first time in 20 years.

In 1990 Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the election, but power remained in the hands of the military regime that took power in the 1960s.

The elections this weekend are supposed to be part of a new transition to democracy but, like many Burmese observers, Wendy is deeply sceptical about any handover of power becoming reality.

Outlook's Matthew Bannister spoke to Wendy as she looked back on her life, and described her relationship with her powerful father, the chance encounter that changed her life, and how it feels to watch the tribulations of the Burmese people from afar.

Wendy Law Yone is the author of The Road to Wanting