Reviewer June Maffin:Living on an island in British Columbia, Canada, Dr. Maffin is a neophyte organic gardener, eclectic reader, ordained minister (Anglican/Episcopal priest) and creative spirituality writer/photographer with a deep zest for life. Previously, she has been grief counselor, broadcaster, teacher, journalist, television host, chaplain and spiritual director with an earned doctorate in Pastoral Care (medical ethics i.e. euthanasia focus). Presently an educator, freelance editor, blogger, and published author of three books, her most recent (Soulistry-Artistry of the Soul: Creative Ways to Nurture your Spirituality) has been published in e-book as well as paperback format and a preview can be viewed on YouTube videos. Founder of Soulistry™ she continues to lead a variety of workshops and retreats connecting spirituality with creativity and delights in a spirituality of play. You can find out more about June by clicking on her Web Site.
ISBN: 978-0-9913958-5-9
Author: William Andrews
Publisher: MADhouse Press
LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9913958-5-9
Author William Andrews is
a skilled writer whose keen observation, vivid imagination, excellent
research efforts, and emotional connection with his Korean daughter
combined to motivate him to write the powerful and riveting
historical fiction novel: Daughters of the Dragon: A Comfort
Woman’s Story.
A hair comb with a two-headed dragon that
belonged to her great-great-grandmother with supposed powers to
protect the bearer ... the state of a man’s boots … an
understanding of the necessity for Japanese soldiers to “purge
themselves” before battle so they could enter the Afterlife in a
state of purity … and Ja-hee, a young Korean who “asks too many
questions” are continual themes that weave through this book of
historical truth and merciless reality.
Ja-hee is just
14 when she and her sister Soo-Hee are brutally taken from their
family and forced to serve as ‘comfort women,’ experiencing
thousands of vicious rapes which Ja-Hee experienced as being “nothing
more than a toilet to the Japanese” in her time of captivity.
This
novel will evoke a wide range of emotions from its readers as Ja-hee
shares her painful seldom-told story of ruthlessness and survival at
a Japanese comfort station in WW11. Ja-Hee’s escape from
North Korea at the beginning of the Kim dynasty, the reunion with
Lieutenant Tanaka and her journey as a single parent of Soo-bo are
part of the story she poignantly shares with Anna, her American
granddaughter who returned to Korea in search of her birth
mother.
Daughters of the Dragon is riveting, disturbing
and a most thought-provoking book. Long before they have turned
the last page, as readers engage with the book, they will
discover their heart, mind and soul have been deeply touched.
And, then they will “want more.” The author won’t
disappoint, for this book sets the stage for his next book: “The
Korean Queen” - the story of Anna’s fourth great grandmother,
Korean Empress Myeongseong.
Philosopher Jorge Agustín
Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás (known as George Santayana)
wrote that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to
repeat it." Thanks to the exceptional writing skills
and intriguing plot development of author William Andrews, the
comfort women of WW11 (primarily, but not exclusively Korean) will,
gratefully, not be forgotten.