This book covers a brutal part of history I knew nothing about. The Japanese occupation in Singapore during WWII. The story follows two time lines. One during WWIIm where seventeen year old Wang Di is captured and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel. And the second time line is in the year 2000 where Wang Di's mind is still haunted by her experiences during the war. And we also follow Kevin, a twelve year old boy who overhears a confession from his grandmother and wants to find out the truth. 

It's a heartbreaking story, a difficult subject and a bit slow moving in parts, but I was very impressed. We know horrible things happen during wars, but reading somthing like this, where Lee used her own family's history to tell what hapend makes it somehow more real. Horrifying but beautifully told.

At its core, How We Disappeared focusses on a forgotten facet of history: the existence of the so-called "comfort women" of World War 2 or, to put it more factually (and therefore, less euphemistically), the young girls and women who were forced into sexual slavery by the forces of Imperial Japan. It is a disgusting, horrifying part of reality; one buried and overlooked by both history books and the cultures that once perpetuated it. Because of that, it is a part of history where the women involved (those who are still alive and therefore, are still able to) have yet to fully recover from. And, how could they? To be sold/tricked/forced into sexual slavery and then shamed for it, if/when they returned home. If I prayed, I would for them; belying that, I hold them near and dear to my heart - always to be remembered, never to be forgotten. 
But, even though this novel opened my eyes to their reality, I am still forced to give it a low rating. Because, its focus - which should have been solely on the experiences of these women - meandered and blurred into multiple narrative threads. The inclusion of the surplus chapters pulled the audience away from the true message of the tale and turned its plot into something cold and confused. It should have done them justice but, for me at least, it fell way short of ever achieving that mark.

I think this is an amazing debut, such strong language and such an interesting structure to tell this harrowing story. Having said that, it was just not my type of book, it really did not work for me despite appreciating that objectively, this is a good book.

How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee
Published by Oneworld Publications
Publication date: 06 February 2020

Jing-Jing Lee’s debut novel, How We Disappeared, is so accomplished that it’s difficult to believe it’s a debut at all. It is beautiful, harrowing, the writing exquisite—elegant, but not flowery, poised, but not stilted.

Set in Singapore, the story weaves deftly back and forth, from 1942 and the beginning of the Japanese Occupation, to the year 2000, drawing you into two times that couldn’t be any more different for the small but pivotal city state. Having lived in Singapore, I found myself there again as I read, at times time travelling to it as I’d never seen it; images of a more rustic and terrified city superimposed over memories of familiar places. Of course, I knew of the Occupation, knew it was horrific, but looking at it through this lens, through the eyes of a character so full of subtleties, so human, it became real. And even more horrifying. This is not to say, however, that this is a book that wallows. It doesn’t and, in that, reflects the character of the place and of its people. 

In the year 2000, the story follows two characters, one elderly, one just a child, and as a mystery unfurls, allows the reader to get to know the very interesting inner lives of both and see the city through their eyes. This timeline, as it darts in and out of the other, provides the reader with a space to breathe, process, and be thankful for not inhabiting the world of the occupation, while reminding us that people’s histories are invisible and compassion is too often in short supply. 

I cannot recommend this book more. I know I will read it again and have been waiting patiently for publication date to buy it for friends and family who I know will find it as absorbing and affecting as I did. Jing-Jing Lee is most certainly one to watch. 

With many thanks to Oneworld Publications and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this beautiful book.

Many many thanks to oneworld publications and NetGalley for this ARC.

First of all, wow!

This was intensely nerve racking and heartbreaking.

I can't begin to say how I feel, but I'm glad I read this. I enjoy historical books and this one was sad and distressing but well written.

Would I recommend yes I would!

How We Disappeared is a historical fiction novel that tells the story of what happened to one woman in particular during the Asia-Pacific part of WWII. 

It follows seventeen year old Wang Di who is ripped from her family and forced into sex slavery to become what was crudely referred to as a comfort woman. 

The book splits the narrative between life for Wang Di during her captivity and life for her sixty years later as an old woman who is dealing with the ghosts of both hers and her recently deceased husband’s past during the Japanese occupation of Singapore.

The book also introduces us to a young boy named Kevin whose grandmother revealed a secret that she had held since the occupation to him on her deathbed and his chapters focus on him researching her past and trying to right the wrong that she had committed. 

I do enjoy historical fiction as it really helps to educate and inform about times past and brings history to life. I had never heard of the phrase “comfort women” before this book and reading about the sexual barbarity that these innocent women were subjected to during their captivity was deeply moving. It was also so deeply horrifying to see the shame that was then placed on these innocent rape victims by society as if they were somehow the criminals and at fault for being raped.

And I must say that Wang Di’s captivity and her friendships with the other enslaved women was written in a most sensitive and thought provoking fashion that made me feel heavily invested in Wang Di’s story and her survival against the odds. These women lived in the most horrific of environments which were laid bare for the reader to see. They suffered cruel beatings and violent rapes at the hands of the soldiers daily and were not given any freedom as they were locked into their rooms. They were barely able to communicate with each other in communal areas such as the washroom as they were constantly guarded. The women were malnourished surviving on less than the bare minimum, and were denied basic medical care. In fact if they got ill it was considered easier to murder them than cure them. The chapters focusing on Wang Di as an old woman were made all the more haunting because of the effectiveness of the writing of surrounding the story of her younger self. 

However, I really failed to connect with the chapters that focused on Kevin’s part of the story. I found them to be lacking in emotional depth and frankly rather boring. And therefore to me this part of the story detracted from highlighting the events surrounding the slavery of the “comfort women”. Kevin just seemed to be used as a plot device rather than feel like a character with a living, breathing personality. He was just described as bookish, quiet, awkward etc without being truly rounded out into a character whose motivations I could empathise with.  

Overall, this was a novel that was easy to read as the writing was incredibly accessible but yet something held me back from fully engaging with the book as a whole and therefore I rate it three stars. 

*An e-copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This is a sad story of women in WW2 during Japanese occupation of Singapore. I can't say it was an enjoyable read at any sense, because it was so sad and distressing. But, as usual it was very well written by Lee. 
She's really good at telling historical stories that is important to remember and know. 

I'd recommend her books any day. 
Thanks a lot NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Harrowing and heartbreaking account of a comfort woman during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II and how the suffering continues through public shaming from the comfort women's own families and communities.


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