Wholesome drama!

I thoroughly enjoyed Pachinko before, and this novel with different plot and content, The Picture Bride is another Korean-historical fiction that didn’t disappoint. A shorter and powerful novel about an impactful Korean-American history in Hawaii. This quality book has all the dramatic elements, cultural and traditional aspects and family dynamics of how the characters handled and mitigated their lives after settling in Hawaii. The story spanned across the ideas of how Korean women were persuaded and paid in cash in exchange of fraudulent and forced marriages to the sugarcanes and pineapples’ male farmers in Hawaii. The story reminded me of a historical fiction novel I once read of Chinese women eluded to better life by marrying the Chinese railroad laborers of the North West Pacific before the Exclusion Act. This a beautiful and powerful book translated into English and although I sensed some disconnection due to language barriers, it is still an easy-read and a page-turner. I truly recommend this book, and I hope this could be made into a movie because there’s an unexpected twist that made it even more entertaining.

Thank you Bookishfirst and Forge Books for this amazing #won novel in exchange for my honest review.