Excellent Book set during WWII and the Japanese invasion and capture of Korean women held as prisoners and forced into prostitution even as children. The author researched the topic thoroughly and created a magnificent story of fortitude, courage and strength under extreme duress of Korean women, young girls and children captured and brutalized by Japanese soldiers.during WWII. It starts off innocent and lovely as a mother and her two daughters who were or became in the youngest sister's case, haenyeo - female divers of the sea who could hold their breath for long periods of time in order to make deep dives in order to collect fish, octupus, crabs, clams, oysters, conch shells and whatever looked appealing that they found on the sea floor to sell to provide food for their families. The mother always told the older daughter to protect her younger sister and when the older girl saw Japanese soldiers coming down the beach she told her sister to stay quiet and hide all the time praying her mother would continue diving and not come out of the water. She went to meet the soldiers to avoid their seeing her sister or mother and when forced to go with them, she did so knowing she was saving her family from such a fate. The story is a sad and brutal one as the poor girl, Hana, is raped and forced into prostitiution though she was a young teenager. Known as "comfort women," the Japanese soldiers used the women to satisfy themselves not caring the pain, shame and cruelty they committed. Some of the children were raped to death. It is a gripping, haunting novel that the reader will carry images away from that can't be unseen even if they are the creation of the writer's words. These atrocities did happen and these women are vindicated today as the story later tells of Hana' s younger sister going to protests against the Japanese and asking for apologies, and charges to be brought against the Japanese regime in honor of these women who suffered unmercifully at the hands of Japanese soldiers who treated them less than human as things to be used then discarded or dealt sharply with to appease their own stress, anxiety and hatred of peoples other than themselves. An excellent story, I highly recommend it.
Shirley J
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