Story Description:
Algonquin Books|April 25, 2012|Hardcover|ISBN:
978-1-61620-077-0
Before she met Il-sun in an orphanage, Gi was a hollow
husk of a girl, broken from growing up in one of North Korea’s forced labour
camps. A mathematical genius, she has
learned to cope with pain by retreating into a realm of numbers and calculations,
an escape from both the past and present.
Gi becomes enamored of the brash and radiant II-sun, a friend she
describes as all woman and springtime.
But II-sun’s pursuit of a better life imperils both girls when her
suitor spirits them across the Demilitarized Zone and sells them as sex
workers, first in South Korea and then in the United States. This spellbinding debut, reminiscent of ‘Memoirs
of a Geisha’, depicts with chilling accuracy life behind North Korea’s iron
curtain. But for Gi and II-sun, forced
into the underworld of human trafficking, their captivity outside North Korea
is far crueler than the tight control of their Dear Leader. Tender-hearted Gi, just on the verge of
womanhood, is consigned to a fate that threatens not only her body but her
mind. How she and II-sun endure, how
they find a path to healing, is what drives this absorbing and exquisite novel
from an exciting young Algonquin discovery to its perfectly imagined
conclusion.
My Review:
This was a fascinating, fast-paced story without a
minute to put the book down! Being
caught up in the lives of Jasmine, Gi, II-sun and Cho was undeniably real. I felt like I was being tugged along with
these four women as they struggled through their daily lives, trying to make
sense of who and what they are. Being
sold into prostitution was a huge blow to their ego’s and their inexperience
was shamelessly embarrassing to watch.
My heart bled for these young women as they were forced into things they
never even dreamed about. Stripped bare
of their innocence and purity was hard to swallow.
Brandon W. Jones hit the mark with this one,
showcasing the realities of human trafficking and what that type of life does
to a person. The ending was so sad and
one I never saw coming and cried over.
All that angelic innocence lost forever.
I would highly recommend this book to everyone, don’t miss it!!
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