One day, she and her mother are diving, their father is away fishing, and her younger sister Emiko sits on the beach, guarding the buckets that contain their day’s catch from interested seagulls then Japanese soldiers arrive. When she is abused, she retreats to her memories. Sixteen-year old Hana is a haenyeo, a female diver of the sea, she is taught by her mother, in the family tradition, to dive deep, hold her breath and withstand the cold. It is difficult to read of the violence, the arrogance, the misuse of power and the humiliation of this piece of war history – still being publicised and discussed – but this is leavened by the magical water sequences. White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht is the harrowing story of two Korean sisters separated during World War Two one snatched to become a ‘comfort woman’ for Japanese soldiers, the other saved by her older sister’s actions. It’s not often that I find myself using the words ‘delightful’ and ‘harrowing’ in the same book review, but here they are.
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