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crothe77 's review for:
White Mulberry
by Rosa Kwon Easton
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton is a third person-POV historical taking place during the Japanese occupation of the Koreas in the early twentieth century. Miyoung’s older sister is arranged to marry a Korean man in Japan, foreshadowing her own future in Japan in just a few years to further her education. She meets Hojoon, a young Korean-Japanese man who is passionate about politics and the treatment of Koreans in Japan.
One thing I really appreciated was that Miyoung is North Korean and highlighting a few differences between her culture and language and those of South Koreans even before the two split into separate countries. Very often, when we talk about North Korea, we’re talking about the Korean War and the modern situation, so I liked seeing a viewpoint from before then. What makes this even more special is that Rosa Kwon Easton essentially fictionalized her grandmother’s history and tried to stay as true to her grandmother’s story as possible, which helps add the life of North Korean women forced into impossible situations in WWII to the growing stable of literature coming out of the Korean diaspora.
I loved how the book opens with Miyoung so afraid of marriage and so determined to become a teacher and how her plans changed over time but she also never loses sight of her ultimate goal which is to help others and be happy. A lot of people have that very goal but how it is shaped changes as new interests and knowledge and experiences enter their lives. Miyoung’s emotional journey feels so real and layered and we get to see her go on this journey over less than a decade as the world around her only gets more and more hostile, but she still refuses to completely give in even if she makes some concessions.
I’ve done a lot of research into WWII, particularly in the Pacific (fun fact: in Japan, it’s not called WWII, it’s called The Pacific War because that’s where they focused their attention) and this felt so incredibly well-researched. Usually, if I know a lot about a subject, I can find something that isn’t accurate but helps make for a better story, but I didn’t find that here. Churches being shut down because they felt too closely tied to Americans, distrust of Christians, Koreans carrying around cards identifying themselves in Japan but still taking Japanese names to hide in plain sight, and more all either matched research I have done, what I have heard from people who have more knowledge than I do on the subject, or in-line with what I know of the time period and setting and the history of Christianity in Japan (which, there is a long one).
Content warning for anti-Korean sentiments
I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction set in WWII in East Asia, readers looking for a book focusing on a North Korean woman during WWII, and those who are interested in the more recent history of the relationship between Japan and the Koreas