“Living every day in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage.”
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I am going to think about this book for the rest of my life and already know I will revisit it for a reread over the years. The way the author wove generations for this family story was phenomenal. 

I learned so much about the dynamic between Korea and Japan that I never learned in school. The racism that was cemented in government, society, and individual consciousness was really surprising to me, I just had no idea about this history. I appreciated how the division of North and South Korea happened through hearsay to the characters. While important, it wasn’t the focus of the book. 

The relationships between Isak and Sunja,and between Hansu and Sunja, were complex, authentic, and fully formed. Kyunghee was such a pure soul, and the sisterhood the developed so unconditionally between her and Sunja brought me to tears. 

I loved how this book was paced to accommodate major shifts in our characters lives and keep us moving through the devastation. the skip to part two was like a punch in the gut when I realized who had still not been returned home. Rather than having us present for that time, we feel the loss of it all at once. 

I loved reading Sunja‘s tenacity and empowerment, she is an incredible woman. I also loved that we got to watch Noa and Mozasu’s growth into men, and how they responded differently to the external and internal pressures of life as Koreans in Japan. We get really close to present day with Solomon and see how the racism has shifted to be more strategic, but still present. 

I wish I had 10 pages(in journal) to write about this book, but all I can say is I’m so grateful to have read it 🫶