Review by Deepshikha Bhagat -- The Vanished
Posted: 01 Jun 2021, 07:54
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Vanished" by Pejay Bradley.]
Peja Bradley was born in Korea and now lives in America. With her novel The Vanished, the author transports the readers to Korea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These were times of the emergence of revolutionary ideas and the dismantling of royalty around the world. Korea's independence movement from Japan forms the background of the story. The author has used the actual events and dates from the freedom movement. She also vividly describes the social structure of Korean society at that time. We get to know about the stringent social rules that people in Korea, especially women, had to follow. She conveys the dismal condition of the farmers and the poor during those times. Being a Korean, she writes about these themes with great authority.
The novel belongs to the category of historical fiction. The author has not mentioned how closely it resembles the lives of the actual people. The story is mainly about the lives of two main characters, Lady Sougyon and her son Embon. She belongs to an aristocratic family. Her father holds the title of a prince. It is heart-touching to see the love that she and her father have for each other. The same degree of warmth is there in her relationship with her son. In her traditional Korean society, she received a relatively flexible and modern upbringing from her father. As a mother, she carries forward her father's legacy and instills a progressive attitude in her son. All rest is good with her life but, she has a miserable marriage because of her husband.
As a young man, Embon is deeply influenced by western thought while studying at university in Japan. He grows in favor of a democratic system in his country in place of the class-based system. He wants his country to gain independence from the Japanese occupation. His life starts changing during his time at university. There are many Korean students with him there, and most belong to well-off families. Together they have a dream to build a democratic, wealthy, and powerful Korea. Something drastic happens, and Embon is sent back home in bad condition. His life in Korea is different from the life he had in Japan. He becomes listless and does not know what to do. He desperately searches for a purpose. His marriage also does not bring any happiness into his life.
The author has divided the novel into four parts. The first two focus more on Lady Sougyon's life. The other two are more about her son Embon's struggle as a young man. I would say that this story revolves around two things. One is the love between Lady Sougyon and her son. The other is the devotion of Korean people towards their motherland. I found it very interesting to read the ending chapters 19 to 23 that describe the activities of the Korean freedom fighters under their provisional government working from China. The pace and place of happenings change in this part of the novel. It makes the story more interesting. For some reason, Embon decides to visit China. Once there, his life takes a new turn.
The novel ends without any conclusive note on the lives of Lady Sougyon and her son Embon. One can expect that the Korean freedom struggle continued a little longer. The story ends somewhere near the mid to late 1930s, and Korea gained independence in 1945.
There is one thing that I found confusing. It seems strange that Lady Sougyon should be the narrator of the whole novel. She belongs to the royal family that lives away from the commoners. How can she describe the events involving working-class people? She can not describe all the events happening during Embon's stay in China as he was not sharing everything with her.
On the whole, I find the novel to be highly engaging. The author has used a descriptive tone that would enable the readers to connect with all the characters. I feel the title of the novel can have several interpretations. One can relate the title to the disappearance of Korea's independence or the destruction of their ancient culture at the hands of the Japanese at that time. It can also be related to the passing away of the people who sacrificed their lives for the country. I strongly recommend this novel to people who love reading historical stories. The story flows smoothly, from one incident to the other. The people who look for a well-written good story would thoroughly enjoy reading this novel. There is nothing that I dislike about the story. My rating for this novel is 4 out of 4.
******
The Vanished
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Peja Bradley was born in Korea and now lives in America. With her novel The Vanished, the author transports the readers to Korea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These were times of the emergence of revolutionary ideas and the dismantling of royalty around the world. Korea's independence movement from Japan forms the background of the story. The author has used the actual events and dates from the freedom movement. She also vividly describes the social structure of Korean society at that time. We get to know about the stringent social rules that people in Korea, especially women, had to follow. She conveys the dismal condition of the farmers and the poor during those times. Being a Korean, she writes about these themes with great authority.
The novel belongs to the category of historical fiction. The author has not mentioned how closely it resembles the lives of the actual people. The story is mainly about the lives of two main characters, Lady Sougyon and her son Embon. She belongs to an aristocratic family. Her father holds the title of a prince. It is heart-touching to see the love that she and her father have for each other. The same degree of warmth is there in her relationship with her son. In her traditional Korean society, she received a relatively flexible and modern upbringing from her father. As a mother, she carries forward her father's legacy and instills a progressive attitude in her son. All rest is good with her life but, she has a miserable marriage because of her husband.
As a young man, Embon is deeply influenced by western thought while studying at university in Japan. He grows in favor of a democratic system in his country in place of the class-based system. He wants his country to gain independence from the Japanese occupation. His life starts changing during his time at university. There are many Korean students with him there, and most belong to well-off families. Together they have a dream to build a democratic, wealthy, and powerful Korea. Something drastic happens, and Embon is sent back home in bad condition. His life in Korea is different from the life he had in Japan. He becomes listless and does not know what to do. He desperately searches for a purpose. His marriage also does not bring any happiness into his life.
The author has divided the novel into four parts. The first two focus more on Lady Sougyon's life. The other two are more about her son Embon's struggle as a young man. I would say that this story revolves around two things. One is the love between Lady Sougyon and her son. The other is the devotion of Korean people towards their motherland. I found it very interesting to read the ending chapters 19 to 23 that describe the activities of the Korean freedom fighters under their provisional government working from China. The pace and place of happenings change in this part of the novel. It makes the story more interesting. For some reason, Embon decides to visit China. Once there, his life takes a new turn.
The novel ends without any conclusive note on the lives of Lady Sougyon and her son Embon. One can expect that the Korean freedom struggle continued a little longer. The story ends somewhere near the mid to late 1930s, and Korea gained independence in 1945.
There is one thing that I found confusing. It seems strange that Lady Sougyon should be the narrator of the whole novel. She belongs to the royal family that lives away from the commoners. How can she describe the events involving working-class people? She can not describe all the events happening during Embon's stay in China as he was not sharing everything with her.
On the whole, I find the novel to be highly engaging. The author has used a descriptive tone that would enable the readers to connect with all the characters. I feel the title of the novel can have several interpretations. One can relate the title to the disappearance of Korea's independence or the destruction of their ancient culture at the hands of the Japanese at that time. It can also be related to the passing away of the people who sacrificed their lives for the country. I strongly recommend this novel to people who love reading historical stories. The story flows smoothly, from one incident to the other. The people who look for a well-written good story would thoroughly enjoy reading this novel. There is nothing that I dislike about the story. My rating for this novel is 4 out of 4.
******
The Vanished
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon