Review of The Vanished

[madai guzman delgado]

[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 Vanished follows the lives of multiple Koreans from 1912 to 1932, when Korea was under Japanese occupation. The first character we are introduced to is Lady Sougyoun, a member of the royal family. Over time, we are made privy to the way tradition and social class have affected her life, rendering her a wife to a drunken, vagrant husband. Lady Sougyoun gives birth to Embon, who will go on to study in Sapporo and become a Korean patriot later in the story. Another important character is Mr. Seoh, a Korean man who works for a Japanese bank. Though he wishes Korea belonged to Koreans again, he cannot bring himself to let his family go hungry. He supports his independence activist friend, Mr. Koo, but continues to operate within Japanese occupation and Korean social tradition. Embon will also meet fellow anti-Japanese university students, all of whom must balance the life that Korean tradition and independence activism gives them. The story explores the personal lives of all of these characters and eventually intertwines them, all while retelling various important events in Korea's fight for independence.

Pejay Bradley crafted a wonderful novel that is both compelling and educational. As a history buff who definitely needed a refresher on 20th century Korean history, I adored the way Bradley consistently gave the historical context which deeply affected every single character. I loved how the reader is made privy to the social and cultural obligations that a character is expected to obey. For example, Mrs. Seoh is clearly a hardworking and kind wife, but her father-in-law is constantly dissatisfied with her service. The older man constantly accuses her of not behaving and working as a wife should, though Mr. Seoh is perfectly content and proud of his wife. Unfortunately, Mr. Seoh cannot vocalize these feelings. As a son, he must not disagree with his father. Thus, Mrs. Seoh is forced to endure the older man's verbal harassment, but she nevertheless loves her husband for treating her with great respect. Similarly, Lady Sougyoun is a financial abuse victim of her vagrant husband. As her father takes his last breath, he instructs Sougyoun's brother to take care of her. However, as much as her older brother loves her, he cannot give her his permission to divorce her useless husband. A divorce is considered absolutely disgraceful, so she is forced to endure this marriage to maintain the family's status.

Additionally, Bradley includes many lovely coming-of-age elements in the novel. Embon experiences first love while he is at college, but painfully conclude that pursuing a relationship with a Japanese girl would never be accepted by his family. Bradley shows many aspects of Korean life during this period, and I thoroughly enjoyed the overlap between Bradley's historical and emotional writing.

My only wish is that this book were a little more organized. Bradley does a great job referencing historical events that let the reader know what year and month it is, but this is sometimes not enough to prevent confusion. I sometimes could not tell if a couple of days or months had passed between one scene and another. This could be easily remedied by including dates at the beginning of chapters and at scene transitions. I also wish there was at least one character who was from a poor family. Most of the characters are from middle or upper classes, and I was left wondering how Korean peasants felt about the Japanese imposing long hours on them. A cultural index including notes and translations would have also helped understand a few scenes and enriched the educational aspect of the story.

The Vanished was an absolute joy to read. I loved learning more details about Korean history and culture, and I thoroughly enjoyed the detailed glimpses I was given into the lives of Korean nobility. I only found a few errors, so it is clear the book is edited professionally. My enjoyment of the book strongly outweighed my complaints. As such, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. It is worth noting that, because this book is based on real events, there is no neat happy ending. If you are looking for a straightforward story, I would not recommend The Vanished. I would recommend this book for anyone looking to expand their historical and cultural knowledge. Given that this book deals with political unrest, there is a fair amount of death, gore, and mentions of torture.

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The Vanished
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[katerina_12]

I really like similar books with tangled plots that also deepen our historical knowledge. Thanks for such a detailed and excellent review.

[T T 2]

Books with deep rooted history are always a good read. I haven't read much about Korean-Japanese war but would love to know about it through this book. Thank you for a great review.