Willow's life in Korea in 1918 seems to have no future, so she agrees to become a "picture bride" to a Korean man in Hawaii. She is told that he is a landowner, that food & clothing are plentiful, and that she can go to school. All were lies, as were the stories told to the women who accompanies her. She must make the best of her new life in a land where she doesn't know the culture or the language.

This is a translation of a novel written by a Korean author about life in Korea under Japanese occupation and life in Hawaii for the immigrant population recruited to work the plantations. The story covers the lives of Willow, her husband, and her companion "picture brides" over the course of the years between WWI and the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. An epilogue (of sorts) includes the story of Pearl, Willow's daughter).

I have read many books that focus on Asian culture (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, for the most part), but have never read a book that covers this particular era and culture. The descriptions of life in occupied Korea and life on the Hawaiian plantations and in the city of Honolulu were fascinating and informative. Unfortunately, there is a lack of emotional connection to the characters. There seems to be a bit of a disconnect in the telling of the story. It's possible that the fault is in the translation, perhaps some cultural connection just doesn't translate to English very well. There is an appendix that explains a great deal of the Korean language used in the book and the way Korean naming conventions are different from English, but that appears at the end of the book. I guess I should have read it first. In any case, I did enjoy the book, I was just a bit disappointed that I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I would have liked. It seemed a bit dry and lacking the literary quality I prefer.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. While I really enjoyed the first half of the book where the MC struggled in parts and had ease in others, it did not seem like a very theme-heavy or plot-ridden book. The second half, however, left much to desire because it just did not make sense. Where 80% of the book was from the POV of Willow, it suddenly turned into her daughter Pearl's story; and an incomplete one at that.
I had strong hopes for this book which unfortunately were not delivered, but I also strongly believe that it might have been a more powerful story but the essence got lost in translation.

I really enjoyed this book. It is one of those quiet books that just packs a mighty punch. And because it is an historical novel, we get to see the impact of so many wars on the family's represented in this book and the community they built to protect themselves. The book explores motherhood, family, culture, race and most importantly friendship.

The Picture Bride is a touching and beautifully written historical fiction of a picture bride named Willow. She travels, with 2 other women from her region, to Hawaii with promises of a much better life and a proposal from a Korean man in 1918. Willow soon learns that many of the details that she was told, by the matchmaker, of her husband's circumstances were not true, including his intention to marry her.

As Willow adjusts to her new country and environment she is determined to make the best of the life she has been dealt. She is resourceful and resilient. Willow reconnects with her 2 friends that she traveled with to the USA. She builds a family and life that she proudly protects.

With the escalation of the Korean independence, her husband leaves for 10 years to devote his energy to the cause, leaving Willow on her own to raise and support their children. Willow makes sacrifices to financially support her family and to provide her children with a chance to realize their dreams.

As a huge lover of historical fiction, I was very interested to read this story.

Willow, a young women from a poor family in Korea, is given the option by the local matchmaker to marry a man in Hawaii via picture. When Willow first sees the photo of her perspective husband Taewan, she is excited. Leaving her family behind and going to a new land with other picture brides, Willow moves to Hawaii to marry her husband and look for a better life. Once there, Willow receives a cold husband and a land different from what she was promised. However, determined to make the most of her new life, Willow pushes forward, embracing the friends she can make and trying to create a relationship with her husband.

This story was something beyond anything I've ever read. There is not enough Korean historical fiction on the American market and this is proof positive to me that there needs to be more. I learned SO much from Willow's story about Korea, Koreans, Hawaii, and more from this time period and it was invaluable look into this world.

I felt the characterization of everyone in the story was the strongest point. Willow and the big characters around her were very defined and kept the story interesting and moving.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this story and hope the author writes more in the future.

Thank you for the ARC.

Although the premise and storyline incorporated interesting and new ideas, the execution lacked fully formed characters and good pacing. I also found the writing to be lackluster and make it difficult to get through. Not my favorite, but still glad I read it and learned something new about this culture that I wasn’t fully aware of!

Hawaii is the place to which Willow and two friends from her village are packed off to live out the rest of their lives. Their mothers sacrifice contact with their daughters rather than shackle them to Korea-occupied-by-Japan. Those two warring foes have slaughtered their families, and these mothers have found a way out for their girls. . . albeit a painful one.

The author fills gaps for a reader with Korea's history, pride, beauty and humiliations by territorial enemies. She reminds a reader gently that every battlefield was once at peace, a homefield and beloved. Willow, Hongju and Songhwa each had to fight for their place in the Paradise known as Hawaii.

A read by which my continued interest in Korea's history and people gained ground.

*A sincere thank you to Lee Geum-yi, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #ThePictureBride #NetGalley

I have a lot of feelings after reading this book. This slice of life is an emotionally gripping tale about Korean Picture Brides. If you are like me, you've heard about Chinese Paper Brides. This is the story about three Korean women who became picture brides. It's not an easy story, but one of bravery, determination, and family.

I do wish the translator had made some different choices. The biggest one being on what to call Korea and Koreans. This story takes place after Japan has invaded and is occupying the country. It is no longer Joseon (Chosun), but the people would surely have still called it that. Referring to it as Korea may have been simpler, but I do wish it has been Joseon.

I did spend some time checking out the real people (Rhee and Park) to get some context about the division in the community, so I appreciated how that was shown.

The ending was a little strange feeling, switching to first person for Pearl. Yet, I feel it sets the stage for the next chapter in the life of the pictures brides, while also bringing closure to this story.

Over all, a well done story.

3.5 rounded to 4.

Willow is the only daughter of a widowed mother with two younger brothers in pre-independence Korea. A matchmaker offers her a “picture marriage” to a man in Hawaii with a promise of plenty and the chance of having an education. When Willlow gets to Hawaii she discovers her husband is a plantation worker who never wanted to marry in the first place and instead of an education, her only responsibility it to care for her aging father-in-law.

Willows story is told in the context of the Korean independence movement and the division that occurs in the community over how to achieve independence. I enjoyed the first part of this novel, learning about the picture brides and their new lives in Hawaii. I was disappointed in the end, it felt rushed and the connection to what was happening in Korea was lost. The end was not satisfying although the writing was beautiful.

I struggled with this one, and I have to just accept that historical fiction isn’t my mood anymore.

This is not a problem with the story so much as a problem with me as the reader.

I really enjoyed all the insights into Korean and Hawaiian culture all those years ago, and I learned many things I didn’t already know! That said I found myself not being able to stay focused on reading it.

In 1918, 3 young women, picture brides from a very poor village in occupied Korea, travel to Hawaii to meet their new, unseen husbands (translated by An Seonjae).

There is nothing easy about any of their lives, but over the years they are able to help each other and become very good friends as they work, have children and manage households all at the same time.

THE GOOD:
An interesting historical time period to read about. A tale of rising above trying circumstances with grit and determination.

THE BAD:
At times seemed disjointed, as if trying to convert actual history into fiction. However, while inspired by actual events, this is fiction of the historical variety, not fiction based on a true account.
Twenty-three used of the racial slur "haole" for those with pale skin, as opposed to native Hawaiians or those of Asian descent, which I found hugely disappointing.
The last section is told from the point of view of Willow's daughter, making this feel less like The Picture Bride and more like a generational saga.

CONCLUSION:
Worth reading. You'll learn a fair bit about Korea and Hawaii 100 years ago.

I found this novel sweepingly brave and resilient. It was my first time reading this author and I enjoyed her writing style, very rich in storytelling.

The concept of 'picture bride' was intriguing and I was expecting it to read more like a YA romance story but it surprised me with its depth. It explored the political challenges of Korea vs Japan and its impact of the Korean community in Hawaii which I found educating. The themes of the power of friendship, hardships of Motherhood, and the sense of duty rang very strong. The little tableaus of life were detailed and pulled you in emotionally.

I wish there was a tad more reveal of the love story but it turned out to be something much stronger than a love story and a self journey. I would definitely look for more titles written by this author!

"The Picture Bride" by Lee Geum-yi and translated by An Seonjae is a historical fiction novel about a young Korean woman called Willow whose relatively well-to-do family is thrown into poverty after her father is killed by the Japanese. When her best friend Hongju shamefully returns back to her family shortly after getting married, the two young women decide to move to Hawai'i to become picture brides: marrying men that they have only ever seen through a photograph. Willow and Hongju expect their husbands to be young and wealthy, and that they will have opportunities like Willow's dream to return to school. However, when they arrive in Hawai'i, their prospective husbands are not at all what they expect and they find that they have been significantly misled about their new living situation. They will have to rely on each other and friendships with other women to make their way in this new country.

This is a heartfelt, well-researched novel about hope and disappointment. Lee writes convincingly about her characters who are pushed to become picture brides by the impact of Japanese rule over Korea and entrenched patriarchal ideas. Hawai'i was a really interesting setting for this book, and there were lots of layers of colonialism, racism and political tension, not just between Korean and Japanese people, but experienced by them in Hawai'i, itself colonised by the United States of America. There was plenty of character development, and I found the nuance of the relationships in this book really engaging. Willow's friendships are impacted by religious beliefs, political allegiances, classism and racism yet it is the strength of her female friendships that carries her through difficult times.

I think that while may aspects of the book were interesting, the pacing wasn't always even and there were some parts of the book that felt like they dragged a little more than others. I think with historical fiction it is always a challenge to decide what to include and what to exclude; what is essential to setting the scene and furthering the plot, and what is not.

A compelling story about a unique historical phenomenon.

This book was just an amazing read, that taught me more about the practice of "picture brides" a concept that I knew very little about before reading this book. This book was very well written, and definitely took into account the hopes and dreams of the (basically) child brides that were being sent from Korea, often to husbands that looked nothing like their real pictures. Most of these brides did not even have enough money to return to Korea if things didn't go as planned, and so they were stuck with husbands that were nothing like they were thinking they were going to have. (either because they were older than they said, or that they just were a completely different person.) This book really showed the strength that all of these women had, being thrown into an unknown situation, not realizing the hardships that they were going to face.

Brilliant writing and story!

Willow, Hongju and Songwa, three young women from a very poor village in occupied Korea, travel to Hawaii to meet their new husbands. The novel centers on Willow, and it looks like she is going to be the lucky one. Her husband sent a picture that actually looks like him. The husbands of the other two sent pictures of themselves as young men, and they are definitely no longer young!

There is nothing easy about any of their lives, but over the years they are able to help each other and become very good friends as they work, have children and manage households all at the same time.

This is not only a story about women striving for and achieving independence, but also about what was happening politically in Japanese-occupied Korea in the early 20th century. Many felt they could fight the occupiers better from Hawaii and China. Until 1905, 72,000 Koreans immigrated to Hawaii, and over 1000 picture brides followed. As the author says, “it must have been a great adventure for them … to leave their family, home, and country [and have] to adjust to an unfamiliar language and environment.”

The author has done a wonderful job in giving us a feeling for all of this.
The novel was first published in Korea in 2020. It is well translated, and I would recommend reading the Translator’s Note soon after starting the story. It is very helpful.

In 1918, Willow, Hongju, and Songhwa travel from their home in Korea to Hawaii as picture brides with the dream of marrying, continuing their education, and prospering in America. Ultimately, this did not happen and they were in fact married off to men many years their senior with no prospect of education.

This story is rich in friendship, self determination, and beating the odds. These three women had a strong bond and their stories shed light on life in Hawaii during Korea’s fight for independence, WW I, and WW II.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Forge Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book so engaging and a subject I had not read much about. I thought the author did a good job of presenting this story and made me want to read more of the history of picture brides. I'm hoping my book discussion book picks this as a title for next year.

I have been to Hawaii and was aware of the large Japanese population, but I wasn't aware of the Korean connection as well. Apparently in the early 1900s, Korean men went to work in Hawaii but there was a shortage of women for them to marry. Enter The Picture Brides, much like a "mail order bride" meets matchmaker. This story follows Willow as she leaves Korea to marry as a picture bride. Unfortunately while there were interesting parts, this book just did not hold my attention. It felt both long winded and like it contained a ton of information with not much explanation.

This is an interesting story about
a little known historical phenomenon. It is well translated.
It is well-paced until the last
chapter where it suddenly jumps forward many years, introduces new characters, questions parentage, and abruptly ends. It seems like the second half of the book is missing. Did the printer run out of paper? Was there a weight limit?