Daughters of the
Dragon by William Andrews is a story about a part of history I have never
heard. It is a heart wrenching story about one woman’s survival during a time
when the world was in turmoil. The story opens with Anna, a Korean woman who
was adopted by an American couple as a baby who is now trying to meet her birth
mother. At the agency, Anna is told her mother has passed away. As she leaves
the agency, heartbroken, she is approached by an elderly woman with a note and
package. The note reads with an address and inside is a beautiful comb with a
two-headed dragon. Against the advice of those around her, Anna decides to go
to the address. There she meets, Hong Jae-kee, her birth grandmother and she
wants to tell Anna the story of her family. There her grandmother begins to
tell her story. She begins in September 1943 in North P’yonygan Province, North
Korea where she lived on the family farm. Jae-kee and her older sister,
Soo-hee, are ordered to work in a boot factory. Before they leave, their mother
gives Soo-hee the dragon comb, in hopes that it will protect her. Along the
way, Soo-hee gives the comb Jae-kee. The girls are shipped by truck with other
girls to China where they arrive at a comfort station. There the girls are
required to be “comfort women” to the Japanese soldiers as they come through
the area. For two years, Jae-kee and the other girls are raped by the soldiers
and treated for horrible sexually diseases as well as quick abortions. Soon
rumor begins to fly that the Japanese are losing the war. Soon Jae-kee finds
herself free but without a home and without family. As she makes her way home,
she must live with the stigma of a comfort woman and finds herself on the edge
of society. How does Jae-kee survive? What is the significance of the dragon
comb?
In many ways, Daughters
of the Dragon reminds me of The Joy
Luck Club as both feature strong women who survive horrific conditions of
war and societal rules which make them inferior. It was eye-opening to see the
events portrayed in Korea as the world is at war and what the Korean War was
like for those who lived there. It is a beautiful and heartbreaking story of
one woman’s journey. Jae-kee’s story is an example of a hidden piece of history
which shouldn’t be hidden anymore. The numbers vary as to how many young girls
who forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army. The atrocities of
war, the innocent lives shattered by the powerful. But the strength of these
woman to make their voices heard and the crimes committed against them be
brought to light. Daughters of the Dragon
is an excellent book about an area of history that has been forgotten and
silenced for too long. I highly recommend Daughters
of the Dragon!
Daughters of the Dragon
is available on
Amazon
in paperback $14.95
and Kindle $4.99
