This book follows three young friends, our main character Willow and her two close friends Hongju and Songhwa, who leave their homeland in Korea for Hawaii. They are Picture Brides, women who sign up to be married to Korean men seeking Korean wives. A matchmaker arranges their marriages and gives them pictures and letters from their soon to be husbands.
Willow is overjoyed at the prospect as she has been told her husband is a landowner, that food and clothing will be abundant and that she will be able to attend school, which is her dream and reason she chose to be matched.
But Willow's joy is short lived as nothing the matchmaker said is true. Taiwan works/ runs a sugar plantation but does not own it. Her husband did not even want to marry her as his heart seems to belong to someone else. And her dreams of school are shattered.
This book had a strong start as the women are planning and preparing for their voyage. However, after they arrived in Hawaii the book just dragged on and never got better. It took me months to finish this book. Endless detail, lack of any emotion making it difficult to invest yourself into any of the characters, and crazy time jumps that had me turning back pages to see if I missed something. The end of the book even changes perspectives after yet another huge time jump where the story just seems to randomly end.
I struggled to finish this book. And I have difficultly even giving a 2 star review. This is not an author I will look for in the future.
Willow is overjoyed at the prospect as she has been told her husband is a landowner, that food and clothing will be abundant and that she will be able to attend school, which is her dream and reason she chose to be matched.
But Willow's joy is short lived as nothing the matchmaker said is true. Taiwan works/ runs a sugar plantation but does not own it. Her husband did not even want to marry her as his heart seems to belong to someone else. And her dreams of school are shattered.
This book had a strong start as the women are planning and preparing for their voyage. However, after they arrived in Hawaii the book just dragged on and never got better. It took me months to finish this book. Endless detail, lack of any emotion making it difficult to invest yourself into any of the characters, and crazy time jumps that had me turning back pages to see if I missed something. The end of the book even changes perspectives after yet another huge time jump where the story just seems to randomly end.
I struggled to finish this book. And I have difficultly even giving a 2 star review. This is not an author I will look for in the future.