This story is a timely reminder of the tragedies of split families still kept apart in the two Koreas. National pride is deeply ingrained, and in Korea the intense love for the country's heritage and traditions has its darker side of hatred for anything that taints the purity of that heritage. According to Kim, in Korean culture bloodline and honour are immensely important, and there has historically been an intolerance for mixed-race children.
Omma had committed the sin of sleeping with an American soldier and producing not just a bastard but a "honhyol" - a mixed-race child, considered less than worthless.
At a young age (she never knew how old she was, perhaps 6, nor does she know how old she is today) and from her hiding place in a large bamboo basket, Elizabeth Kim watched as her grandfather and uncle hanged her mother, Omma, from the wooden rafter in their small Korean hut. Quite simply, I could not put this book down, until I had finished a story that is more harrowing than any novel. Not only is it lyrically written, it is suffused with the power of the human spirit to endure, to love and to forgive.
(Doubleday) $24.95 Review: Penelope Bieder* Do not be dissuaded from reading this book by its somewhat ominous title, which derives from a Buddhist belief that "life is made up of ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows, all stepping stones to ultimate peace." There is much to be learned from this heartbreaking tale of a Korean war orphan and her long struggle to rebuild her life.
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