Author : William Andrews
I know it’s not a fair comparison but this book felt more brutal than any of the other historical fiction novels I’ve ever read. Besides the fact that the violence in this book was explicitly written, it also expressed the pain of humiliation and shame in so many different ways that made it very hard to read sometimes.
Set during and after the Japanese occupation of Korea and China (Almost the same time period as the novel Panchinko), this book largely revolves around the story of Jae-hee who was forced into sexual slavery to serve the soldiers as a ‘comfort woman’.
This is a story about survival and courage but despite that, this book still goes on to show how people
can decide a woman’s worth based on their perceptions of honor. This book was an amazing read and a hard eye opener into a piece of history that was conveniently kept hidden and barely recognized for so many years.Â
