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A review by lisamshardlow
The Spirit of the Dragon by William Andrews
5.0
In present day, 90-year-old Suk-bo Yi is questioned by police following a suspicious death at a Koreatown nursing home. Suk-bo has a very interesting story to tell, but she will only speak to Anna. In 1939, the Japanese occupying Korea force Suk-bo to marry Hisashi - a Japanese man. In spite of everything, they fall in love with each other, which puts them in the middle of two two countries at war. When Hisashi joins the Japanese army and disappears, Suk-bo goes on a quest through years of war, bigotry, and poverty to find him. Suk-bo’s story also reveals something that binds her to Anna: an antique comb with an intricately carved two-headed dragon.
This was absolutely emotional and heartbreaking! It’s the third in The Dragon series, which can be read as standalone stories but I recommend that you read them in order as some characters and themes do overlap. Although this is fiction, it is based on actual events that happened in Korea during and after WWII. I don’t really know much about what was happening in that part of the world during that time, but these books are a real eyeopener. Suk-bo was such a lovely young woman who did not deserve any of the horrific things that happened to her. I felt so sorry for her and all of the other Koreans who had to live with the occupying Japanese. Of course, not all of the Japanese were bad, and I really loved Hisashi and felt very sorry for him and what he was forced to do as well. I really cared for all of the characters and found myself thinking about them in between reading sessions. I also liked the use of some Korean and Japanese words throughout.
Some parts of the story were quite heavy and difficult to read about, but I do think it’s important to learn about such subjects. To know about it is to try to prevent it from happening again in the future. I give this 5 out of 5 stars.
I highly recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, stories of WWII, Korean and Japanese culture, strong and resilient women, and mythical two-headed dragons.
This was absolutely emotional and heartbreaking! It’s the third in The Dragon series, which can be read as standalone stories but I recommend that you read them in order as some characters and themes do overlap. Although this is fiction, it is based on actual events that happened in Korea during and after WWII. I don’t really know much about what was happening in that part of the world during that time, but these books are a real eyeopener. Suk-bo was such a lovely young woman who did not deserve any of the horrific things that happened to her. I felt so sorry for her and all of the other Koreans who had to live with the occupying Japanese. Of course, not all of the Japanese were bad, and I really loved Hisashi and felt very sorry for him and what he was forced to do as well. I really cared for all of the characters and found myself thinking about them in between reading sessions. I also liked the use of some Korean and Japanese words throughout.
Some parts of the story were quite heavy and difficult to read about, but I do think it’s important to learn about such subjects. To know about it is to try to prevent it from happening again in the future. I give this 5 out of 5 stars.
I highly recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, stories of WWII, Korean and Japanese culture, strong and resilient women, and mythical two-headed dragons.