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A review by kristabooksandjams
White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht
5.0
I was so captivated by this story of two Korean sisters separated by awful events during WWII. One storyline follows 16 year old Hana who is captured by a Japanese soldier and forced to become a comfort girl for soldiers on the front lines in Manchuria in 1945. Her story was difficult to read and even more sad to know horrors like these really happened to tens of thousands of women and girls. The other storyline is in 2011 and we follow Emi, Hana's sister who is an elderly woman looking for closure and relives painful memories of her own.
I love books that teach me something about history I wasn't aware of. This one sure did that! Along with the awful plight of women forced into sex slavery, I learned about the amazing haenyeo - women divers who support their families by diving deep into the ocean to collect food to eat and sell.
This book was beautifully written and yet so hard to read because of it's content. Bracht does not sugar coat anything. It was gritty and at times more graphic than I normally read, but very hard hitting and I was enthralled from the beginning.
I love books that teach me something about history I wasn't aware of. This one sure did that! Along with the awful plight of women forced into sex slavery, I learned about the amazing haenyeo - women divers who support their families by diving deep into the ocean to collect food to eat and sell.
This book was beautifully written and yet so hard to read because of it's content. Bracht does not sugar coat anything. It was gritty and at times more graphic than I normally read, but very hard hitting and I was enthralled from the beginning.