Review by Nisha Ward -- The Vanished by Pejay Bradley

[Nisha Ward]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Vanished" by Pejay Bradley.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The period is the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Revolution is in the air in Korea, a nation subjugated by the Japanese. Young Embon, born to an aristocratic family known for their loyalty to Korea, finds himself caught in the turmoil of a long and difficult rebellion as the way of life he’s always known disappears with each day. With the fate of the Korean nation in the balance, can Embon allow himself to stay on the sidelines?

So goes the tale of Pejay Bradley’s The Vanished, a book that earns a full 4 out of 4 stars from me. It also earns a hearty recommendation to readers of historical fiction. It’s a book I love. It’s a book I want to spread to as many people as possible.

One of the things I really like is that the book isn’t about Embon. That is, it’s not just about Embon, but about Korea. You get a number of different points of view that offer a look at the middle and upper classes of Korean society, but it isn’t about the aristocracy, per se. Rather, it’s about those who can offer what they can to the revolution, how they stand up to the Japanese. Bradley isn’t interested in turning the suffering of the lower classes into a spectacle, but she is interested in how the aristocracy and middle classes might effect change.

I’m really interested in this because of Embon’s friends, Hain and Yangwoo. Both are well-off enough to study in Japan, and both can afford to lie to their families about what they’re doing in Shanghai. Their devotion to the Korean national cause endeared them to me, and their friendship with Embon was pretty enlightening for both him and me, the reader.

I liked this because it was educational without being didactic. Bradley weaves history and national pride through her characters and the way they speak to each other. It makes the book more accessible when speaking about a crucial time in Korea’s history.

However, I did have some issues with the book, issues that were more personal. For one, I would have liked more insight into the lower classes than we were actually given. Further to this, it would have been interesting to have more of a female perspective than just Embon’s mother and the occasional view from the men’s wives’ perspectives. As one of the rebellion’s generals had noted, women were also involved in the resistance, often as support, and I would have liked to have seen what that looked like.

Given that I liked the book for the above reasons more than I disliked it, and that existing errors were rare? I feel fully justified in my full rating, and I encourage historical fiction fans to take a look at The Vanished. It’s a book that makes you think about history beyond a Western narrative, and it’s well-written too.

Happy reading, everyone!

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The Vanished
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