White Chrysanthemum tells the story of two sisters in Japanese-occupied Korea. When the story opens, their family is living on Jeju Island, which I only know through my Korean students as a holiday destination. Although Japanese occupation is harsh, with enforced Japanese names and Japanese language, the family of four is living simply but happily. The women in the village are haenyeo, skilled freedivers who harvest abalone, oysters, sea urchins and other sea life, and support themselves through what they find.

Elder sister Hana lets herself be spotted by a Japanese soldier to distract him from seeing her little sister, Emi. Her storyline tells what happens after she is captured and taken away to be a “comfort woman” at a Japanese army brothel.

Their mother, who knows what happens to pretty girls under Japanese occupation, does her best to shield her younger daughter from the truth. For Emi, her beloved sister disappears one day, and is never spoken of by their family. Emi’s storyline begins when she’s a grandmother, secretly looking for her sister, and her life is revealed in flashback.

This is an amazing novel, even when it’s upsetting. Some parts are a little hard to read, simply because the forced marriage, the repeated rapes of “comfort” women, and the wartime starvation aren’t plot devices for fictional Hana and Emi, they’re actual experiences for real women. The story moves through Jeju Island, Manchuria, Mongolia, and other places affected by the war, but not necessarily the first places that spring to mind (at least not for me), and I was very interested in seeing a new part of history.

The author lets us get up close and personal with two sisters, Hana and Emi, and when the story begins they live a good life in South Korea. Their mother and Hana are female divers in the local sea, and earn a living capturing the fresh seafood.
All this ideal life comes to a tragic end when Hana is taken by the Japanese, and life as she knew it ceases to exist. The author then takes us into the realities of war and human sex slaves, the part of war that tends to be swept under rug.
We later learn how Emi has been affected her whole life from growing up from the innocent four-year-old, to an elderly woman. Through it all she continues to search for her missing sister.
We soon learn the meaning of the title of the book, and why they are
A story that needs to be told, and with the people we will remember, and dark time in history, and we hope not to be repeated.

I received this book through Net Galley and Penguin Group Putman Publishing, and was not required to give a positive review.

4.5 Stars

White Chrysanthemum is a one of those well-written, meticulously researched historical fiction books that remind me of why I love reading this genre. While I have spent decades reading novels that take place in Europe during WWII and taken classes in college about WWII, I had no idea of the history of Korean women abducted by Japanese soldiers during WWII and forced into sexual slavery to be“comfort women.” This is without a doubt one of the most heartbreaking books that I’ve ever read, but it is a story that deserves to be told in the hopes that history will stop repeating itself since sex slavery during war is not a thing of the past as the author makes mention in her notes at the end.

Mary Lynn Bracht did a magnificent job bringing the story to life of two Korean sisters, Hana and Emi in her debut novel. The story is told in alternating POVs from Hana during WWII and her younger sister Emi in 2011, so we get to hear both sister’s focus, pain, grief, shame, and sorrow.

The story begins in 1943 on Jeju Island when Hana is 16 and Emi is only 9. Hana is a haenyeo woman along with her mother where the women of the island are considered the family providers since the women train in the coastal waters from a young age to free dive for seafood and other edibles from the sea that are later sold in the market. One day while diving, Hana sees a Japanese soldier heading to the beach where Emi is guarding their harvest, so she immediately swims to shore, hides her sister, lies that she is alone, and says she is an orphan to save her sister from being abducted. After all, she promised her mother when Emi was born that she would always protect her, and she will fight to keep that promise.

Hana is then taken from her family and transported to Manchuria. This begins unspeakable horrors for Hana. The chapters from Hana’s POV were more than heartbreaking since she is graphically beaten, abused, and repeatedly raped. I cried reading her story, but I was angry too. Just know that these chapters of her POV are grim and violent and often very disturbing, but I imagine that they are nothing like a real-life comfort woman would have experienced. I loved Hana’s character; she was stronger and had much more courage than I think I would have had in the same situation. Even in the midst of the vile and evilness of her story, she was just a beautiful soul.

Emi’s story began in 2011, and she was an old woman in her late 70s now. She was still a haenyeo having learned how to dive as soon as Hana was abducted so she was always by her mother’s side, which I thought was amazing at that age (and I did my research on haenyeo and they are still diving, and many dive well into their 80s!) She has lived through WWII and the Korean War, she has married and had 2 children, she is now a grandmother, but she has never seen Hana since the day Hana sacrificed herself to save her. This is a guilt and a shame that Emi has lived with her entire adult life, and she has never told anyone-not her now dead husband or her children about Hana and what happened to her.

Yet, Emi has been attending yearly Wednesday Demonstrations (weekly protests that began in 1992 in Seoul by South Korean comfort women to demand the Japanese government acknowledge the war crimes, make apologies, punish those responsible, and make reparations– these weekly demonstrations are still being held) in the hopes that she can find Hana or what happened to her. As Emi tells her story, she is leaving her island to attend the 1000th Wednesday Demonstration, and it is there that she finds the courage to face her past. Emi’s story was very poignant, and her journey was a special one, albeit a very sad one at times, that I’m glad that I was able to take too. I felt deeply for her. Reading her POV allows you to understand what a victim’s family lives with: the survivor’s guilt, the shame, the grief, and all those other feelings.

Bracht’s writing is vivid and beautiful, and this story will leave you feeling broken hearted. There are moments of beauty in the novel and when you come across them, they are magnificent and to be treasured. I can also say that Bracht was fair in my opinion about the atrocities of war or at least as I know of them since she also points out in the novel of the war crimes committed not only by the Japanese in WWII but of other soldiers from other countries involved in WWII. There is no denying that WWII was a despicable war with atrocities committed by all sides. If you like historical fiction then I cannot recommend this highly enough. I’ve heard this called the “Korean Nightingale” to compare with Kristin Hannah’s excellent WWII novel The Nightingale, and I agree although the writing style is different. I think if you loved The Nightingale that you would enjoy this one! I, for one, cannot wait to read Bracht’s next book!

**Thank you, NetGalley, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and Mary Lynn Bracht for an ARC copy in exchange for my fair and honest review. **

Blodeuedd and I did a joint review: http://www.caroleraesrandomramblings.com/2018/01/joint-discussion-white-chrysanthemum-by.html

I had a hard time picking between a 2 or 3. The ending, for me, was the final factor. This was just okay. The ending and the way the duo POVs made it hard to love. I liked Hana's story and I wanted more of that. Emi's was fine, but I feel it took away from the shock value and the horror of Hana's story. I really feel Emi's POV should've been saved for the ending or you are not sure WHO this is maybe Emi or maybe Hana. I'm not sure, but yes, I felt it took away from the darker part of the story. The ending confused me. Now, I really did enjoy Hana's story and the characters she met. All so complex especially the one soldier. He was a crazy one for sure.

Hana gets taken by the Japanese to become a Comfort woman, which is a sex slave. But I never truly had time to connect and every time I felt her plight I was taken away by another POV. Not that I wanted to dwell in the horror of the brothel, but honestly, she was hardly there that long it seemed. If you really wanted to tell a story, make it tough and hard to read.

Then there was the sort of boring POV of her sister in 2011. She is still trying to find Hana and goes to demonstrations *yawns* And nothing happened and we had to suffer through the POV SO much.

Then something else happens to Hana and that just seemed, come on. Really? It was just another attempt not to deal with the rough stuff.

Life is hard, war is evil and here I should have felt more. It started off well and I was horrified, but then with the constant POV changes I was never in her head enough. You do not need to spare me.

The afterwards if about how rape is still a constant in war and that is true. I just wish this had truly been Hana's story.

I felt it could have been amazing. Sure it was good. But it could havebeen better

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Korea, 1943. Hana, age 16 has lived her entire life under Japanese occupation. South Korea, 2011. Emi, her now elderly sister.

As the story progresses, we understand the heart-breaking ordeals each of the sisters endured but they never forgot the love they had for each other.

Very good book. This is the first book I've read where I was equally interested and invested in both timelines.

4☆

Subject matter in this novel was heartbreaking to read but paints a legitimate picture of the suffering of Koreans by the Japanese during WWII and post-war. The story alternatively told told from Hana and Emi’s perspectives, sisters who were ripped apart from one another at a young age is powerful. Hana’s story begins in 1943 as a young girl taken by Japanese soldiers to be used as a sex slave; Emi’s story in 2011, as an older woman carrying the guilt of Hana’s disappearance and trying to come to terms with the past.

The sisters’ interwoven narratives relating to this historic atrocity are a sobering reminder of sins of the past and relevance to the present.. This is a book that will be put in a prominent place on my bookshelf, one that has influenced me to reflect on the good life I’ve been given. I am grateful Mary Lynn Bracht chose a topic that I was unfamiliar with. She brilliantly captures the essence of human endurance and spirit. A must read.
*I will be adding to additional online outlets upon publication.

In Korea, 1942, Hana is a haenyo, a diver who provides for her family by what she finds in the sea. Her heritage makes her proud, and she’s fiercely protective of her family. Then Hana saves her younger sister from a Japanese soldier. As a result, she is sent to Manchuria to become a “comfort woman” in a Japanese military brothel. When other girls surrender and give up, Hana’s pride as a haenyo keeps her going. She will make it home.

In South Korea, 2011, Emi has been searching for her sister for over 60 years. She hasn’t forgiven herself for being the reason her sister was taken away, and she wonders if she can find Hana and gain forgiveness for herself. But Emi has been hiding the truth from her children, and she must shine light into the dark places of her life if her children are ever to heal their own wounds from the war that scarred Emi’s home and family forever.

White Chrysanthemum was not an easy, fun book to read. This book tells the harrowing story of untold numbers of Korean women, and the horrors inflicted on them in the 1940s. Told from Hana’s and Emi’s viewpoints, this story is emotionally wrenching and sad, but beautifully written and moving. Very much worth reading.

(Galley provided by Putnam in exchange for an honest review.)

My Review: 4.5 stars

White Chrysanthemum is a difficult book to say I loved, because the events that this book covers are heart wrenching. I even feel weird saying that I enjoyed it, because who can enjoy reading a novel that’s core revolves around a horrible event that was filled with rape, kidnapping & abuse? This novel unearths the parts of human history that aren’t covered in your typical high school textbook. That being said, I would highly recommend White Chrysanthemum, although it may not be the book for everyone. It’s a touching story of two sisters’ pain and sorrow that they lived through and forever carried with them.

Bracht’s writing is visual; the story truly comes to life in your head with a scenic sensibility. The descriptions of Hana and Emi’s role as haenyeo are beautiful. I didn’t know anything about the free-diving ladies of Jeju Island in Korea, and was surprised that this tradition continued under the changing of regimes. In researching haenyo after I completed the novel, Smithsonian magazine states that about 80% of the remaining haenyeo are over sixty years old. There are now about 4,600 haenyeo compared to 26,000 in 1960.

The book is broken into two POVs, each belonging to one of the sisters. The chapters belonging to Hana were hard to read. The brutal force she experienced as a “comfort woman” in Manchuria was heartbreaking. The graphic and disturbing descriptions of the abuse, both emotional and sexual, are difficult to get through, but it gives the character extraordinary depth. Although Emi wasn’t a comfort woman, her chapters dealt with the guilt of being ‘saved’, the pain of a family torn apart and living a life under the brutal control of the Japanese. Emi has her own demons to deal with as her life was never really her own as she searched for her sister.

This book was extremely well researched, with no small detail going unnoticed. As a history buff, this gave the story an extra layer of authenticity that made it come alive. I highly recommend White Chrysanthemum, but with reservations if you have any problems reading scenes of rape, murder, beating and kidnapping. This is one of those books that is hard to stop once you start, so the warning of the abuse is worth noting.

This is one heck of a novel for a debut and I look forward to what’s next from Bracht. I’ve attached a photo, also from Smithsonian magazine, of current day haenyeo.

This beautifully written and deeply sad novel will surprise you even if you think you know the story of the comfort women. It spans World War II, the Korean War, and today and is told in the alternating voices of two sisters- Hana and Emi. Hana is taken from the beach, as she successfully protects her small sister Emi, and moved to a brothel where she is raped over and over by Japanese soldiers. Her captor, Morimoto, is obsessed with her. Her journey from Korea to Mongolia is the stuff of both horrors and legend. Emi, while she avoided capture, did not have a happy life, having been forced into marriage by a police officer who is later responsible for the death of her mother. She visits her children in Seoul once a year in order to stand by the Japanese Embassy in hopes of finding her sister all these years later. The person she relates to best is her daughter's lover Lane, who somehow crosses generations, nationalities, and experiences to understand Emi. There's so much in this richly atmospheric and yet horrifying book. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This one will stick with you not only because of the characters and the bad stuff but also for the wonderful people in Mongolia. Highly recommend.

This was a difficult book to read, but very good (and not as graphic as I had braced myself for). Hana is a Korean girl taken to be a comfort woman for the Japanese army during WWII, which happens in part because she is trying to protect her sister Emi. Emi looks back on her life as an old woman, still wondering what happened to her sister. This is an effective narrative tool because the reader sees both the experience of a comfort woman and the modern outlook on the subject. There is also a clear sense of how present history is - though it might have happened 70 years ago, there are still members of that generation still living for whom the pain is still there, and the repercussions echo on the later generations. Through Emi's memories, we also see what the Korean War was like for a Korean woman, something I don't think I've ever read about before. While some of Hana's story seems like it must be a bit over-dramatized and bits seemed a bit too happily-ever-after for the subject matter, I felt like Bracht's author's note at the end sufficiently explained her narrative choices to quell my reservations.

White Chrysanthemum is the story of Korean sisters Hana and Emi.  The novel tells the story of Hana in 1943 and Emi in the present day.  The sisters come from a long line of divers called haenyeo. The divers make a living from their catch as well as feed their families.  It is considered to be an honorable occupation and is traditionally learned by daughters whose mothers have the occupation.

Hana, being about ten years older than Emi, is out diving with her mom one morning while Emi is left to play on the beach.  Hana spies a Japanese soldier and acts quickly to divert his attention away from her baby sister.  Hana is taken and ends up in a brothel dedicated to serving Japanese military men.  

From that point forward the sisters spend their lives longing to get back to each other.  This novel is incredibly sad and the reader can easily imagine what is happening by the prose used to describe the lives of the two sisters.  As it turns out, neither sister has it easy.  

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel.

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Group Putnam for a copy of this book to review.

Two sisters, Hana and Emi, are living in Korea during the second World War. They spend days at the beach with their mother, a haenyeo, learning to dive for food in the sea. One day while they’re at the beach a Japanese soldier comes and takes Hana away. Decades later, near the end of her life, Emi still has not been able to find the sister she lost that day.

This historical fiction tale is told in alternating points of view – Hana in the 1940’s and Emi in the 2010’s. Heartbreaking, yet important, readers are going to encounter some tough subject matter. The subject of sex slavery during WWII is the main focus.

This was hard to put down. The chapters are sometimes long, sometimes sweeping, but always engaging.

Prior to reading White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht, I was completely ignorant about the issue of "comfort women" during World War II, a fact that surprised me, as I am frequently drawn to historical fiction, in particular books that focus on women's trials during World War II. After reading White Chrysanthemum, I now understand why the people of Korea have pressed for an official apology from Japan in recent years.

Mary Lynn Bracht's book is genuinely heartbreaking. Through the stories of the sisters, Hana and Emi, Bracht made the experience of the comfort women become more than news headlines. White Chrysanthemum tells those stories through two different time periods--Hana's experiences during World War II and Emi's experiences as she visits her adult children in 2011. Throughout both of those time periods, the sisters experience frequent flashbacks that help readers understand their lives and individual histories. Hana and Emi grew up in a village famous for its haenyeos, female divers who provide food and financial stability for their families, and are both expected to follow in their mother's footsteps and become haenyeos themselves. Hana has always been warned to stay hidden from Japanese soldiers, but when she sees a one headed toward her younger sister, she places herself in danger in order to get her sister safely hidden away from him. As a result, she is captured and becomes one of the "comfort women" for Japanese soldiers in a brothel, far away from home. As Emi later nears the end of her life, she realizes she needs to confront the past she locked away and seek closure for her sister's disappearance.

I will admit that I struggled with the first part of White Chrysanthemum and nearly abandoned it as a result. I am ultimately glad that I decided to forge ahead, and in the end, I found that I enjoyed reading this book. Emi's journey was incredibly rewarding to me, and the focus on familial bonds and tradition made this a fulfilling read. In addition, I am grateful to Bracht for exposing me to the existence of comfort women, and she handled the evils of war in as fair of a way as possible. Yes, she portrays the Japanese soldiers as evil and cruel, but she also points out the atrocities committed by Russian soldiers, the American military, and even South Koreans throughout the book. Bracht was successful in her effort to show that war invokes horrendous acts from all sides.

However, there were two primary issues that limited my ability to enjoy the book for the first 1/3 or so.

First, the narrative style took some time to become comfortable for me. Although there is a fair amount of action that takes place throughout the book, that action is interrupted quite frequently by flashbacks. Most of those flashbacks went a little something like this: She saw/smelled/felt ___________, and she immediately remembered __________ (followed by a detailed memory). There were many times that the flashbacks felt forced, and as a result, the book felt disjointed throughout. Once I grew accustomed to the style, I came to expect the flashbacks and was able to settle into the book a bit more, but they still never quite felt like they fit seamlessly.

The second, and most important, aspect of White Chrysanthemum that took some adjusting for me was the graphic nature of the way Bracht describes the violence inflicted upon the comfort women. I understand that such horrendous acts are central to the story and help readers understand the true horror of the lives of the women who endured those acts, but the scenes where Hana is raped were incredibly difficult to read. Yes, they made her story all the more heartbreaking, and yes, I understand that those things really happened to the women who lived through the very real experience Bracht based her book upon, but they just felt excessive at times, and I can see that they could potentially be very triggering for those who have experienced sexual abuse. I don't feel that the detail and frequency of those scenes was totally necessary, and I believe that the same emotions could have been evoked from readers in ways that were more sensitive and less sensational.

I'm ultimately glad that I did not abandon White Chrysanthemum. Had I not continued forward, I would have missed out on the powerful message behind the story, and it is a story that needs to be told.

In 1992, South Korean women began a weekly demonstration that lasted more than twenty years. The Wednesday Demonstrations were a demand for an apology and compensation for the treatment of “comfort women“—women who were forced into sexual slavery before and during World War II. White Chrysanthemum, by Mary Lynn Bracht, tells the story of two Korean women. One woman, Hana, is captured by a Japanese officer who rapes her and sends her to a brothel in Manchuria. Her younger sister, Emi, attends the Wednesday Demonstrations decades later in an attempt to find out what happened to Hana.

Hana and Emi come from a long line of haenyeo, women who deep dive in the waters off of Jeju Island to feed and support their families. Emi was only a year into her training as a diver, preparing to join her sister and mother, when Hana was spotted in the water by a Japanese corporal one day in 1943. To save her sister from being abducted, Hana lied about being the only girl on the beach. The lie works, but it meant that Hana would experience horrors no one should ever face. The chapters that tell her story are heartbreaking. She struggles with abuse, physical hardship, suicidal thoughts, and the corporal’s delusions that they are in love.

Emi’s chapters, set in 2011, alternate with her sister’s. Emi survived World War II and the Korean War relatively intact. Now she is burdened with survivor’s guilt. She knows the general outlines of what happened to Hana, but she doesn’t know if Hana lived or died. Her children don’t know, and they’re more than a little bewildered by their mother’s actions and obsession with the Wednesday Demonstrations.

Bracht includes an author’s note at the end of White Chrysanthemum that give a bit more historical background on what happened to Korean women during the war and how the Korean and Japanese governments have spared over what should be done for them in the decades since. The author’s note also explains, if readers were not already aware of the history, how her protagonists represent the women themselves and their family members who were left behind to wonder about them ever since. White Chrysanthemum, I think, is extraordinarily articulate in how it deals with the emotional trauma of both women and the people they represent. It is delicate, thoughtful, but packs an emotional wallop that I’m going to be recovering from for a long time.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. It will be released 30 January 2018.

A tremendous amount of research has obviously gone into the foundation of this work, bringing to light the atrocities against women in the 20th century particularly, but over time, over the world, the brutality of male dominion over women and girls as a general response to war.

Hana and Emi are Korean sisters living on Jeju Island in 1943. Jeju women had a distinct independence unusual in the world of women mid-twentieth century. Considered the family providers, these girls and women train from a young age to free dive coastal waters for seafood, seaweed, and other edibles from the deep, they are haenyeo women and much respected. Early morning for diving, clean seafoods on the shore and make way to the market, sell foodstuff in the afternoon. Even in winter this schedule was kept and if any diver were disabled the others would try to make up the difference. You didn't let your friends go hungry.

When Hana is 16 and Emi but 9 and still a weak swimmer so doing shore duty guarding the harvest from gulls and crabs, Hana surfaces to see a Japanese soldier on the beach, approaching a point where Emi will be easily sighted by him. Hana swims frantically to shore and diverts the soldier, getting herself captured but keeping Emi safely hidden. Thus begins the nightmare of captivity and enforced duty as a 'comfort woman' for Chinese and Japanese soldiers as Hana is transported into Manchuria under armed guard. On Jeju Island Hana is never heard from again, never spoken of even as the family grows to include Emi's son and daughter, Hyoung and YoonHui.

Alternating with this story we have Emi's story told from the focus point of 2011. Emi and her best friend JinHee are still Haenyeo women, still diving most days though in their 70's. And Emi is still silent about her sister's loss, still guilty that that sacrifice was made for her own safety. Until she attends the 1000th Wednesday Demonstration in Seoul while visiting her adult children. The Wednesday Demonstrations are an effort to find justice from the Japanese government for the war crimes committed against Korean women and girls. And the statue placed on that day to mark the 1000th anniversary is of a young girl, a 16 year old image of - Hana.

in Korean lore a white chrysanthemum is a symbol of mourning, the yellow chrysanthemum represents Japan's imperial family's power.

I received a free electronic copy of this fiction based on fact historical novel from Netgalley, Mary Lynn Bracht, and G. P. Putnam's Sons in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

Loved this book. Did not know anything about the ''comfort women' who were kidnapped and used as prostitutes for the Japanese. I have already recommended this book as a must read to several of my library patrons.

After a slow start this book, on its surface, tells the story of a young Korean traditional diver, her country occupied by the Japanese, who is captured and forced to serve as a “comfort woman” to Japanese soldiers. Despite the hard-to-believe story of her escape, recapture, and all that follows, Bracht’s story also explores relationships, those of mothers and children, of husbands and wives, of sisters, of friends, and as interesting as is the historical aspects of the novel, it is these explorations that raise it above the ordinary. Hard to read at times, White Chrysanthemums is well worth the investment of time and emotion.

Really well-done historical fiction focusing on the Comfort Women in Japan during World War II. The story is harrowing and at times incredibly difficult to read (CW for rape, violence, sexual slavery, war, etc.), but there's certainly more to it than the sexual violence. Bracht writes wonderfully about love, loss, family ties, grief, and guilt. This is a book that truly sticks with you.

MY REVIEW OF "WHITE CHRYSANTHEMUM" BY Mary Lynn Bracht

"White Chrysanthemum" by Mary Lynn Bracht is a combination of fiction and historical fiction. The genres for the this story are Historical Fiction, General Fiction, and War Story.  This is a heavy  read about the evils and destruction of war on families and people., both women and men. The story takes place during World War Two, and brings up the history of Korea, and Japan's involvement during the war. It also involves other countries. The story also is written in the present time.

The characters are described as complicated and complex as depicted by the events in the story. This is a story about evil times, and the evil things that happened to innocent people, which is often what happens in a war. Hana has lived in Japan occupied Korea as long as she can remember. Hana is a "haenyeo" a female diver of the seas as her mother. Hana's other responsibility is to watch out for her younger sister Emi.  Hana sees a Japanese soldier on the beach and hides her sister. Hana is captured. The characters hold deep dark secrets .

In the present day, Emi, is an older woman, who has never told her two children about her sister and guilt. She is trying to remember and forgive  the past to move on.

The author discusses the tragedy of war, and the use of Korean Comfort Women, women who were captured to satisfy the pleasure of the Japanese men. Many of these older women never received compensation or apologies from the Japanese government. Many of the difficulties in Korea after World War Two, and the division of the country and other countries involved.  Be warned this is a difficult and heavy book to read. Readers that like reading about War and  the effects of war might want to read this. I was left with many thoughts and a great deal to reflect upon.. I received a copy of this ARC for my honest review.