Reviews with content warning for Death - White Chrysanthemum

Title: White Chrysanthemum
Author: Mary Lynn Bracht
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: January 20, 2018

T H R E E • W O R D S

Unsettling • Enlightening • Redemptive

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Korea, 1943. Hana has lived her entire life under Japanese occupation. As a haenyeo, a female diver of the sea, she enjoys an independence that few other Koreans can still claim. Until the day Hana saves her younger sister from a Japanese soldier and is herself captured and transported to Manchuria. There she is forced to become a comfort woman in a Japanese military brothel. But haenyeo are women of power and strength. She will find her way home.

South Korea, 2011. Emi has spent more than sixty years trying to forget the sacrifice her sister made, but she must confront the past to discover peace. Seeing the healing of her children and her country, can Emi move beyond the legacy of war to find forgiveness?

💭 T H O U G H T S

I was gifted a copy of White Chrysanthemum by a friend a few years ago, and when I needed a book to fit a 'flower in the title' prompt, it was easy to grab off of my shelf. I didn't know much besides that it was a historical fiction, and I decided to tandem read the physical book along with the audio.

I was instantly drawn into the eye-opening account of the war crimes committed against 1000s of Korean women during WWII. The history of the Japanese sex slavery, and these women known as 'comfort women' is something I knew very little about. As detailed in the author's note, it's another heinous aspect of history governments have tried to brush under the rug, yet needs to be told. The detailed descriptions of what when on with these women were hard to read, yet really drew me into the story. I also appreciated learning about haenyeo culture.

As I kept reading, my interest waned as the story moved away from the central aspect. And I don't think the dual POVs worked for the story Bracht was trying to tell. While I knew they were connected, it felt like two separate stories being told parallel to one another. Emi wanted justice and healing with what happened to her sister, and Hana was always searching for home and eventually had to adjust to a new meaning for the word 'home'.

Mary Lynn Bracht handles the unsettling content with care in her debut. I preferred the first half of the story, and the ending left me satisfied, but something throughout the middle left more to desired. I would definitely read more of Mary Lynn Bracht books in the future.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• historical fiction fans looking for something different
• readers who like stories about sisters

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Words are power, her father once told her after reciting one of his political poems. The more words you know, the more powerful you become. That is why the Japanese outlaw our native language. They are limiting our power by limiting our words."

Content Warnings