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A review by tej_reads
Can't I Go Instead by 이금이, Lee Geum-yi
4.5
"Where shall we go next?".
Can't I Go Instead is a translated historical fiction by Lee Geum-yi, the author of The Picture Bride.
Can't I Go Instead takes place in the early twentieth century during World War Two II and the Korean War with a emphasis on the realities of class division. Our two protagonists are Chaeryeong the daughter of a Korean nobleman, who navigates the realities of being Japanese woman in America and Sunam, Chaeryeong's maidservant and follows Sunam's time as a 'comfort women' to the Japanese Imperial Army, as well as the their lives following World War Two II returning to an independent Korea.
Can't I Go Instead was very interesting in that it's one of the few novels I have seen that refers to the Korean War and Imperial Rule, and the horrible conditions that arose because of it (whilst Can't I Go Instead is a fictionalised account, the actual conditions were not at all decent). The novel explores racism in America, looking at the Japanese Internment Camps but also the Korean life under Japanese rule including the realties of 'comfort women'.
I've read both of Lee's translated works and I have to say Lee does not disappoint, historical fiction done well. I felt for the characters and the ending, gosh the ending.
Thanks to Lee Geum-yi, and Scribe UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Can't I Go Instead is a translated historical fiction by Lee Geum-yi, the author of The Picture Bride.
Can't I Go Instead takes place in the early twentieth century during World War Two II and the Korean War with a emphasis on the realities of class division. Our two protagonists are Chaeryeong the daughter of a Korean nobleman, who navigates the realities of being Japanese woman in America and Sunam, Chaeryeong's maidservant and follows Sunam's time as a 'comfort women' to the Japanese Imperial Army, as well as the their lives following World War Two II returning to an independent Korea.
Can't I Go Instead was very interesting in that it's one of the few novels I have seen that refers to the Korean War and Imperial Rule, and the horrible conditions that arose because of it (whilst Can't I Go Instead is a fictionalised account, the actual conditions were not at all decent). The novel explores racism in America, looking at the Japanese Internment Camps but also the Korean life under Japanese rule including the realties of 'comfort women'.
I've read both of Lee's translated works and I have to say Lee does not disappoint, historical fiction done well. I felt for the characters and the ending, gosh the ending.
Thanks to Lee Geum-yi, and Scribe UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.