A very sad but beautiful book. I had heard of the "comfort women" before, but this novel made everything come to life. Some of the violent details are very graphic, so you have to be mentally ready to read Hana and Emi's story. I loved the way the author brought in historic details unnoticed. I learned something more about Korean history and the role the Japanese played during and after the war. I would definitely recommend this to some of my older students who are interested in this part of the world because they have Korean friends or acquaintances. Just be prepared for a deep and traumatizing experience.

Heart-breaking story about the myriad ways women in a single Korean family are made to suffer for generations, owing to war. The Jang family lives a proud and peaceful life on Jeju Island, despite the burgeoning Japanese occupation. Detailed descriptions give depth and life to the characters and locations, their dialog is convincing, and the pacing is exquisite. Chapters alternate between the war-time capture of elder sister Hana who is taken to Manchuria by the Japanese military; and present day traumatized younger sister Emiko, who was spared becoming a "comfort woman" but still endured a world of other hurts. With instability in the world today it is absolutely crucial that we read and learn about atrocities of past wars, so as to restrict their recurrence.

The true story of Korean 'comfort women' i.e. Japanese sex slaves undoubtedly deserves to be told but this isn't a particularly accomplished or sophisticated novel. In fact, so keen is it to tell a story, that Hana, a 16 year old girl enslaved by a Japanese military officer, spends more time on the run in Manchuria and Mongolia than in the brothel in which she's placed.

Hana's story is interspersed with that of Emi in the present, her younger sister, now an old woman, uncovering family secrets and searching for a trace of her lost sister.

I'm sorry to sound a bit dismissive: this *is* an important story based on the claims that only came out in 1991 that Korean women were enslaved, raped and forced into prostitution by Japanese occupying forces in the run-up to and during WW2. Of course, this is horrific, of course it needs to be told - but as a novel this feels too simplistic and straightforward.

The author's afterword has a similar naivety about it when it reiterates, again, the platitude that we need to remember history to stop us repeating it - but, as she well knows, women continue to be raped during conflicts in, for example, Rwanda, Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia, Syria, Iraq (even as I write this).

So yes, an important, story, but rather disappointing as a novel.