This engaging novel tells of the lives of two Koreans, a young farm boy, Kim Young Nam, and a young girl Lee Hana, and the hardships and perils they have to face over the decades from the last days of the Japanese Occupation of Korea to the 1980s. It’s an often shocking and heart-breaking odyssey and the author doesn’t flinch away from describing the horrors of war, and the terrible experiences her protagonists have to face. Kim Young Nam, for all his poverty, aspires to an education above all else. Lee Hana is abducted by the Japanese to become a comfort woman. Both characters demonstrate enormous resilience and this could easily have turned into a rather sentimental account of their struggles, but the author avoids this and the novel remains rooted in reality. It’s quite a sprawling narrative, crossing time periods and continents, but here again the author shows her skill in keeping control and has produced a well-crafted and well-paced compassionate story which kept my interest all the way through, and which never became predictable or clichéd. I enjoyed the insights into Korean culture, history and society, and the excellent evocation of the time and place. A well-written and compelling tale of human endurance.

I was rather late reading this novel!

I found this novel interesting and very powerful. Taught me quite a bit about the lives of Koreans and the Japanese Occupation. It is a story that will stay imprinted on my mind for some time to come.

In Korea, in the years after the war, a young private saves a woman who is about to be swallowed by the waves of a flooded river. This is the time that connects, apparently for the duration of this episode, but actually twisting their fates, two young Koreans from the past and the future troubled.
After this encounter, the story goes back and in alternate chapters tells the tragic childhood of both, first under Japanese occupation, then under the communist North Korea. He, the son of a poor farmer's family, has an erudite vocation that pushes him to overcome any difficulties and undergoes any attempt to return to his beloved books, she has had her childhood stolen from having been kidnapped little more than child and destined to become a 'comfort woman' for Japanese troops.
Nothing so banal as a love story between the two, who will find themselves in the United States many years after that random rescue, but the demonstration that a human nature supported by determination can't be broken even by the most terrible events and the weird and disadvantageous circumstances.
I thank Leaf ~ Land LLC and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A sweeping and dramatic tale set in an important period of Korean history.

I believe it was Cheri’s review that convinced me to download this novel from Netgalley back in November. I have been meaning to read it since then but I could not find myself in the mood to tackle such a dramatic story. Be warned, this novel is painful to read although the ending provides for some release. Still, it is worth reading.

The novel plot spans over 42 years. It starts with the Japanese occupation in Korea from 1942 to 1945, continues with the Korean War in 1950 and ends in 1985 in USA and Korea. During this period we follow the twisted destinies of two Koreans, Kim Young Nam and Lee Hanna and their struggle for survival in a harsh environment. A child, Kim Young lives in a poor village together with his brothers and sister and dreams to become a scholar. His thirst for knowledge will be challenged by war, abuse and poverty. Lee Hana is stolen from her village at 12 years old and forced to work as a comfort woman for the Japanese occupation army. I thought that her tribulations were much worse than Young Nam’s and I was grateful, in a way, that the focus was on the boy. I do not think my heart could sustain so much pain.

One scene will always remain in my mind. Lee Hana manages to survive the war and when she returns to her home and confesses her suffering to her mother, she receives a slap and is told that ”You should have killed yourself.” She hoped to find understanding and protection but she instead found scorn and hate because she brought shame to the family.

As I wrote before, it is not an easy read, the story punches you in the gut many times. Whenever I thought that life could not get any harder it usually did, especially in the first part. However, the characters felt real, I am sure there were many Koreans that shared these misfortunes. After experiencing his novel I felt grateful of the life that I have and that I was born in these times.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review