Product Description
Book Description
America Town in post-war Korea is a bad place to end up in: for Sookie and her half sister, Hyun Jin, it's an even worse place to start out from. Kelller unflinchingly records the sex and war just after the Korean war, where American GI's cavort with local prostitutes, in this follow-up to COMFORT WOMAN (1999) - which was long-listed for the Orange. "Despite its harsh subject, Keller's novel should do well on the basis of her strong writing and her courage in taking on women's issues. If Oprah takes a look, she could be hooked" - Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
'America Town' in post-war Korea is a bad place to end up: a garish shanty town of cheap bars and organized prostitution in which mothers fight with daughters over the dollars to be earned off the GIs stationed nearby. For Sookie and her half sister, Hyun Jin, it's an even worse place to start out from. While still schoolgirls they are introduced by their mother to the seductive pull of American consumer goods, supplied by her soldier lovers, but quickly discovery the high cost in human degradation that goes with them, including child prostitution, rape and the brutal loss of self. When Sookie find she's pregnant and wants to get rid of the child, Hyun Jin decides to dedicate her life to protecting the unborn child against an unfeeling and debased world. But does the safety of one innocent life come at too high a price, even for the devoted Hyun Jin? Nora Okja Keller's powerful follow-up to the critically acclaimed Comfort Woman is a stark and poetic tale of love, survival and self-sacrifice from an exciting new literary talent.
