This book is another entry in my "around the world" reading collection. It was first published in Korea in 2020 and translated for USA readers in 2022. I read it partly to remove the bad taste from reading Pichinko and partly because it is a universal woman's story.
Women are constantly having to leave their homes and families in hopes of a good marriage and a better life. In the case of this book, young Korean women and girls left their home villages and moved to Hawaii before it was a state based only on a photograph of a man willing to marry them. That put an ocean between them and their childhood homes. They did this willingly because it was the best way to find a husband. War and the search for work had severely decreased the number of marriageable men in Korea.
We follow Willow and a small circle of friends from her village on her journey to Hawaii. She was luckier than many of the other women in that her husband closely matched his picture. Many of the potential husbands were much older that the photo they sent. Even so, her married life was not any smoother than the others.
I am interested in social history. I find it easier to read and accept as historical fiction. I liked the story.
This book was translated from its original Korean.
Women are constantly having to leave their homes and families in hopes of a good marriage and a better life. In the case of this book, young Korean women and girls left their home villages and moved to Hawaii before it was a state based only on a photograph of a man willing to marry them. That put an ocean between them and their childhood homes. They did this willingly because it was the best way to find a husband. War and the search for work had severely decreased the number of marriageable men in Korea.
We follow Willow and a small circle of friends from her village on her journey to Hawaii. She was luckier than many of the other women in that her husband closely matched his picture. Many of the potential husbands were much older that the photo they sent. Even so, her married life was not any smoother than the others.
I am interested in social history. I find it easier to read and accept as historical fiction. I liked the story.
This book was translated from its original Korean.