outstanding

Beautifully written and narrated. A sad and thought provoking story about the trauma of war.

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Starts slow, harrowing and truly emotional story

Brilliant, stay with it, I nearly gave up in the first hour, it shines a light on the atrocities of the Japanese occupation, rarely discussed in the UK.

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6 people found this helpful

the audio book

I didn't like the male narrative. in some part I felt it is an audio theater rather than a book and I didn't like it.

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Historical story recalling a difficult time in history.

I knew about the comfort women before I listened to this book. But many of my perception were wrong so this was a eye opener.
The story had several twists and turns that were not expected. Which made it more interesting. I am reluctant to use the word enjoyable but this book was very gripping.
Some parts of the book were very distressing but important to here.
I can definitely recommend this book.

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A heart breaking story that needs to be heard at last .

As a girl growing up in Singapore and Malaysia, during 70’s and 80’s I had heard horrific stories of the Japanese invasion. At that time it was still rumoured that some women used the invasion to their benefit by prostituting themselves to the Japanese soldiers , these women were still spoken about as social pariahs,rejected even by their own families . Due to strict cultural and moral beliefs , these girls were so ashamed of what had happened to them,they could never discuss the horrific truths until they were in their golden years and the world had made the changes necessary to speak out. Although fiction this book is, I believe based on someone’s story .The brutality of the Japanese towards girls taken from their homes , some just mere children is heartbreaking. The trauma suffered by these girls and women is unforgivable, not just during their torture and abuse but long after the war, so shamed , so traumatised so silenced.
Jung-Jing Lee characters recreate in words the true struggles of psychological trauma and the suffering of post trauma throughout a lifetime. The author protectively maintains her characters strength,dignity,hope and the ability to love , which is so cleverly created within its ending.
❤️🙏🏻

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7 people found this helpful

Striking Story & Performance

I didn't know much about WW2, but this work by Jing-Jing Lee has been an eye opening and sobering experience. It gives an important voice to people who were silenced for so long: "comfort" women and also gives an account of how the East experienced the attack from the Japanese.

it's a painful "story" — I use quotation marks because many realities were weaved into a single book — and also extremely educational. The characters are well developed and their stories weaved carefully. The narration is excellent, Ryu Yun's performance of Kevin specially really stood out to me endearing, and he added so much charm and life to each voice.

The cruelty endured by Wang Di broke me, and yet her story and life, as full of pain as it was, still had it's precious moments. I'll be thinking about the ending for a long time.

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Read it

I’ve made a decision to read fiction mostly by women of colour from now. Having been brought up on the mostly white male European canon means there are huge swathes of human experience I don’t have contact with. This is just one example of powerful writing which also has made me revisit my understanding of many things.

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Heart breaking story with real palpable characters

Enthralling story - you can’t stop listening - brings everything to life like a film. Horrible part of history that needs to be heard. Excellent narrators - excellent writing. Loved it ❤️

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Excellent story, well narrated

I found this story exceedingly interesting, very well written from the different perspectives (it took me a little to get used to that). A part of history that needs telling. The narration was equally excellent.

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Excellent book, vety powerful

A part of recent history that, I think, is not well enough known. Very good narrators. Highly recommended!

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3 people found this helpful