How We Disappeared
A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel set in Singapore about a woman who survived the Japanese occupation and a man who thought he had lost everything For fans of Min Jin Lee s Pachinko and Georgia Hunter s We Were the Lucky Ones.Singapore, 1942 As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child.In a neighbouring village, seventeen year old Wang Di is bundled into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel where she is forced into sexual slavery After sixty years of silence, what she saw and experienced there still haunts her present.In the year 2000, twelve year old Kevin is determined to find out the truth wherever it might lead after his grandmother makes a surprising confession on her deathbed, one she never meant Kevin to hear, setting in motion a chain of events he could never have foreseen.Weaving together two timelines and two very big secrets, this stunning debut opens a window on a little known period of history, revealing the strength and bravery shown by numerous women in the face of terrible cruelty A profoundly moving novel, it is based partly on the author s great grandfather s experiences. Best Read [ How We Disappeared ] author [ Jing-Jing Lee ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr They were called comfort women , a soft description meant to make what was done by the Japanese soldiers to these young girls and women from Korea and this case Singapore, to make it sound less threatening, less horrific But what they endured was horrific the rapes and sexual abuse, slavery, locked in rooms, given little food This is another story that s difficult to read, but an important one as a theme of the novel reflects the stories must be told I didn t really know anything about w They were called comfort women , a soft description meant to make what was done by the Japanese soldiers to these young girls and women from Korea and this case Singapore, to make it sound less threatening, less horrific But what they endured was horrific the rapes and sexual abuse, slavery, locked in rooms, given little food This is another story that s difficult to read, but an important one as a theme of the novel reflects the stories must be told I didn t really know anything about what happened in Singapore during WWII so I found here yet another piece of that historical time It s not just about th...The book cover is gorgeous. Yet the history was brutal The Japanese occupation in Singapore in WWII took place from 1942 to 1945 The history often is forgotten and some prefer it that way Especially the Japanese government The Japanese Military was horrendous and shameless Most Americans are educated about Pearl Harbor yet are less familiar with the horrors of what the Japanese military did and to the extent that women suffered What really got to me was the shame the women and The book cover is gorgeous. Yet the history was brutal The Japanese occupation in Singapore in WWII took place from 1942 to 1945 The history often is forgotten and some prefer it that way Especially the Japanese government The Japanese Military was horrendous and shameless Most Americans are educated about Pearl Harbor yet are less familiar with the horrors of what the Japanese military did and to the extent that women suffered What really got to me was the shame the women and girls felt about themselves.for being forced into sexual slavery It kills me as in so sad when victims internalize their trauma by blaming themselves with inner critical abusive thoughts and other self inflicting punishment I never fully underst...How We Disappeared has two timelines The first is set during World War II, and the location is Singapore Japanese troops have been marching through Malaysia One village is almost completely wiped out only three survive the attack In a nearby village, Wang Di is captured and sent to a Japanese military brothel where she is a comfort woman The second timeline is in the year 2000 Young Kevin s grandmother is sick, and she confesses something to him It causes him to seek the truth, whateve How We Disappeared has two timelines The first is set during World War II, and the location is Singapore Japanese troops have been marching through Malaysia One village is almost completely wiped out only three survive the attack In a nearby village, Wang Di is captured and sent to a Japanese military brothel where she is a comfort woman The second timeline is in the year 2000 Young Kevin s grandmother is sick, and she confesses something to him It causes him to seek the truth, whatever that might be The two timelines have two secrets Jing Jing Lee was inspired by her family s experiences to write this story How We Disappeared is a tribute to strong women displaying resilience of spirit even in the...There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you Maya Angelou In the creative hands of Jing Jing Lee, the rawness and the brutality of the war years in Singapore become a reality for all of us Once occupied by the British, Singapore became a land seemingly passed from hand to hand always waiting for the boots of strangers to fill the room with echoes of uncertainty.It s 1942 and the British have abandoned the land to the crushing threats of the Japanese Village after villa There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you Maya Angelou In the creative hands of Jing Jing Lee, the rawness and the brutality of the war years in Singapore become a reality for all of us Once occupied by the British, Singapore became a land seemingly passed from hand to hand always waiting for the boots of strangers to fill the room with echoes of uncertainty.It s 1942 and the British have abandoned the land to the crushing threats of the Japanese Village after village has been ransacked and pillaged leaving little food in the huts and little hope for a return to times past The number of families in Singapore begin to dwindle under the horrendous acts of violence and murder at the hands of the marauding Japanese.Wang Di is soon to celebrate her seventeenth birthday with the promise of a visit from a local matchmaker But tradition and culture will be set aside Her small village will b...This sprawling epic talks about the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WW II and its repercussions which affect families until this day I applaud Jing Jing Lee for illustrating that history is never really over and how important it is to be able to tell one s own story in order to see oneself and to feel seen To share and discuss what has happened in the past can free individual people, families and whole societies Jing Jing Lee has woven a net of stories about a family that experiences This sprawling epic talks about the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WW II and its repercussions which affect families until this day I applaud Jing Jing Lee for illustrating that history is never really over and how important it is to be able to tell one s own story in order to see oneself and to feel seen To share and discuss what has happened in the past can free individual people, families and whole societies Jing Jing Lee has woven a net of stories about a family that experiences hardship, loss and trauma due to the occupation of Singapore 1942 45 One main focus lies on Wang Di who is abducted from her parents and forced to work as a prostitute serving Japanese soldiers another main thread is set in the 21st century and introduces us to Kevin who tri...Who s going to listen I repeated Don t tell anyone Not me or your father or any of the neighbours Especially not your future husband An important book that is hard reading at times as we learn the story of one woman s life as a comfort woman to the Japanese Army in Singapore during WW2 I have to say that I found this uneven in places I loved the heart of the book, Wang Di s cathartic narrative as she finally allows herself to tell the story of her captivity and experiences BWho s going to listen I repeated Don t tell anyone Not me or your father or any of the neighbours Especially not your future husband An important book that is hard reading at times as we learn the story of one woman s life as a comfort woman to the Japanese Army in Singapore during WW2 I have to say that I found this uneven in places I loved the heart of the book, Wang Di s cathartic narrative as she finally allows herself to tell the story of her captivity and experiences But I found it all wrapped up in far less entrancing tales Wang Di as an old woman now , and Kevin who is searching for his antecedents view spoiler Not just do these stories take away from the prime wartime narrative, but I tend to dislike these kinds of full circle happy endings, reuniting the lost hide spoiler Still, what I consider the main story is wonderfully realised in...This beautiful heart breaking debut is multi narrated around two timelines and centers around Japan s atrocities during their occupation of Singapore during WWll, and modern day when a 12yr old learns of his grandmother...Readers will immediately notice the beautiful cover of this Historical Fiction novel that looks at WWII from a different vantage point the Japanese occupation of Singapore between 1942 and 1945 The story has dual time lines and is told with two perspectives Wang Di is a teenage girl from a small town who is abducted during the war and sold into sexual slavery to become a comfort woman to the Japanese army The second perspective is from Kevin, a 12 year old boy who tries to piece together Readers will immediately notice the beautiful cover of this Historical Fiction novel that looks at WWII from a different vantage point the Japanese occupation of Singapore between 1942 and 1945 The story has dual time lines and is told with two perspectives Wang Di is a teenage girl from a small town who is abducted during the war and sold into sexual slavery to become a comfort woman to the Japanese army The second perspective is from Kevin, a 12 year old boy who tries to piece together his grandmother s murky confession sixty years after...Visit the locations in the novelSingapore, 1942 As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child.An emotional and heartbreaking read set during the Japanese occupation It s the story of a woman who survived the most horrific circumstances yet survived Woven around this story is the tale of her husband and the horrors he also went through at the hands of the Japanese.A heartbreaking and powerful read Did I mentio Visit the locations in the novelSingapore, 1942 As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child.An emotional and heartbreaking read set during the Japanese occupation It s the story of a woman who survived the most horrific circumstances yet survived Woven around this story is the tale of her husband and the horrors he also went through at the hands of the Japanese.A heartbreaking and powerful read Did I mention this was heartbreaking It shattered my heart and it s stayed with me ever since There were times I didn t want to read anybut I did, as to stop would have felt like abandoning the characters to their fate alone This book got to me in many ways, I m not going to lie.The books takes you back t...Review to come, but this book broke my heart over and over.
- English
- 24 September 2018 Jing-Jing Lee
- Hardcover
- 352 pages
- Jing-Jing Lee
- How We Disappeared