The Book Bump

First Published: 2018
Author: Mary Lynn Bracht
Language: English
Genre: Historical fiction
My rating: 3.5/5

Two sisters who are torn apart by the atrocities committed during World War II. In 1943, Hana, a haenyeo (a Korean female diver of the sea), is captured by Japanese soldier Morimoto while trying to protect her younger sister Emi. In 2011, Emi now an elderly lady with children and grandchildren is still searching for her sister. She believes she will find her, but time is of the essence.

Historical fiction isn’t usually a genre I read. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s the idea that I’m reading something based on the truth which makes the topics more difficult to read. It’s funny, I guess, reading about violence in “pure fiction” books with no qualms, but feeling uneasy reading books based on real-life atrocities.

The story deals with hard-to-read subject matter: kidnapping young women to be used a “comfort women”. It’s a historical event that I had no idea about.

The narrative occurs on two different timelines, which allows the reader to immerse fully in both character’s stories. Each character dealing with their own tragedies and their own shame.

Hana’s story enables the reader to see “first hand” the horrors comfort women had to endure. Emi’s story shows the aftermath of losing a sibling to trafficking and other atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army.

I cannot even imagine what these women and girls had gone through and this book, while sad, didn’t quite capture the horror of this subject. I feel it didn’t go deep enough. I felt that it glossed over the parts where Hana was a comfort woman. It was hard to connect to either of the characters. Perhaps the style of writing felt too impersonal for such a personal story. It’s a tough balance to strike between captivating storytelling and historical accuracy.

One aspect of the book I didn’t quite understand was the character of Morimoto. He felt like a caricature of pure evil. I suppose he is meant to represent all the Japanese Imperial Army, but it seems too much for one character to shoulder. Perhaps it could have been beneficial to have more than one main character to represent the antagonist.

The characters sometimes felt a little flat and devoid of emotion. Sometimes, it felt deliberate, to reiterate the idea that they have detached themselves from their bodies. That to survive they had to bury this burden, to brush it under the carpet.

I enjoyed the sense of hope that the novel inspires despite the dark subject matter. Through Emi’s POV, the reader glimpses that Korean woman want to change the narrative, shift the shame and guilt away from the women who suffered and direct it towards the true perpetrators.