How We Disappeared: LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020

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Most people are unaware of the occupation’s death toll. The conservative estimate lies around 40,000 (not a small number as the total population was around 800,000 in 1942). The dead were mostly made up of Chinese men who were executed during the Sook Ching (or ‘purge,’ a targeted ethnic cleansing). I absolutely adore the characters. Wang Di’s resilience, Kevin’s determination and resourcefulness, Soon Wei’s love and care for his wife, and nothing but love for the rest of the characters. I think there’s chemistry between all the characters and the personalities given really work for each of the character.

Banerjee, Argha Krishna (28 August 2020). "Secret horrors from 1940's Singapore". Telegraph India . Retrieved 7 May 2022. Although Singaporeans take for granted the fact that local women were abducted during the Occupation, no victims have come forward to give testimony. During my research, I came across several interviews in which war survivors mentioned having seen, or heard about, such events. The women involved, invariably, would be a distant relation or a friend of a neighbour – someone conveniently removed from the interviewees’ own private sphere so that they can remain fairly untouched by the trauma and shame. So no, the issue is not being discussed as openly as in Korea and China. I believe the size of the country is a one factor. Its smallness prohibits any sense of anonymity, so that there’s nowhere to hide from the shame of being a rape victim once you’ve confessed to having been a comfort woman for the Japanese soldiers.” Weaving together two time lines 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. Drawing in part on her family’s experiences, Jing-Jing Lee has crafted a profoundly moving, unforgettable novel about human resilience, the bonds of family and the courage it takes to confront the past. Don't tell anyone. Not me or your father or any of the neighbours. Especially not your future husband." In 1942 Wang Di is seized by the Japanese and forced to be a “comfort woman” for the duration of the war.If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. More than 50 years later, a 12-year-old boy records a confession by his grandmother on her death bed. He begins a journey that will unravel the secrets of his family’s past. Wang Di is a disappointment to her parents. Why? Because she was born a girl instead of a boy. The name her parents gave here “Wang” meaning hope and “Di” meaning boy, a constant reminder of this disappointment every time somebody calls her name. Overall the novel handles a difficult (but important) storyline very well, conveys brilliantly a sense of how shame can drive long lasting suppression and secrecy in a small society but falls short of being a great book (in my view) due to a sub-optimal framing device. The final chapters are suffused with kindness, the power of talking, love. Indeed they are so moving that I read them through a blur of tears.

It depends on how you define ‘openly discussed,’” she says. “The general population is very much aware of the issue; ask any Singaporean if they think that local women were taken during the Japanese occupation and, young or old, they would likely say ‘yes.’ In the 90s, there was even a Chinese TV drama serial set during the Occupation and one of the strands showed how young local girls were taken by the Japanese troops to be used as sex slaves. The government, however, is reluctant to touch upon this issue. In the 1960s, Singapore received 25 million Singapore dollars from Japan as a loan. The Singaporean government tried to have the amount officially named as a ‘blood debt,’ but Japan refused. In the end, the two countries called it a ‘bilateral agreement’ instead. The book's pacing is ineffective, and the framework lends itself to redundancy. Finally, the first and last chapters allude to the unreliability of memory but feel like a cheap riff off of Life of Pi While I appreciated learning about a lesser known, but no less tragic, aspect of WWII, unfortunately, I struggled to become invested the stories, particularly Kevin's. The connections between the two POVs and two time frames were often awkward which influenced the flow of the story. I also felt somewhat dissatisfied that readers are left with so many unanswered questions. Thankfully, the author only devoted a couple of chapters to Wang-Di’s time as a comfort woman. Kevin, a young boy, weaves his way into her life half a century later uncovering hidden truths in two families. He is a bright spark in the darkness. Despite this one flaw, I found Lee’s novel a searing, heartbreaking, yet important rendering of the lives of comfort women and the citizens of Singapore before, during and after WWII, as well as an enlightening account of Singapore’s geo-political and strategic importance to several world powers throughout history (including the United States). I gave this book 5 stars and will certainly recommend it to fellow readers interested in historical fiction, Asian history and stories that demonstrate the depth and strength of the human spirit.Wang Di is definitely a sympathetic character, and her story is tragic and harrowing-- more so, because it reflects a very dark time in history, and the stories of very real women in China, Singapore, and Korea during World War II. Her story is broken down into two parts: we see her narrating her story in the 1940s in the first person, as well as a very old women in the present day in the more removed third person. I actually found this really interesting; Wang Di was haunted by her traumatic abuse during the war, and I couldn't help but feel that she was given first person for these segments to show how immediate and personal these memories were, whereas as an old woman, Wang Di felt far more removed from her circumstances, as nothing could really rival what she experienced in the war. Era un’adolescente quando fu strappata alla sua famiglia per diventare una “comfort woman”, una delle tante donne che soddisfacevano i bisogni dei militari giapponesi. This not-knowing when it came to my parents; things I’d never thought about, even if they were clear as day, clear as the fact that my parents had their own parents, had their own childhoods and histories. And then one day you open a drawer and out come all the secrets that have just been sitting quietly, waiting to be found, even though you never thought about them, never suspected they existed in the first place. So much SHAME and poverty in the book, that really stood out for me. I now want to find out more about this period. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.

Every character in this story has a unique voice and journey of their own and Jing-Jing Lee develops each of them precisely and brilliantly. Singapore, the year 2000: a twelve-year-old boy hears a mumbled confession from his grandmother, which leads him to her history of sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation of Singapore. [4] Reception [ edit ] Although it is difficult to read about such pain and suffering, it is important to remember the stories of these women who have been all but forgotten. I didn’t expect myself to get through this story because I am so affected by real-life violence, but I found myself engrossed in Wang-Di’s story and rooting for her to find peace and solace. The book is set in wartime Singapore, a setting to which I could relate due to my grandparents' own experiences of Japanese occupation during World War II. How We Disappeared was a 5-star read prediction from me. I just had a feeling. Maybe it was the anticipation of reading it. Maybe it was all the other fascinating HiFi books that I have read. Maybe it was me. Maybe it wasn’t. But, I did not feel as much as I wanted to while reading this book. The writing was beautiful, yes, but it did not leave a lasting impact. The story had a lot to offer, yes, but somehow it was not enough. I wanted it to be even more beautiful than its cover. I wanted it to hurt more. I wanted to feel much more empathy for the characters. I wanted more complexities in the story. I wanted more from it. I have rated How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee at 4/5 stars.Raises poignant questions regarding multi-generational trauma, accelerated modernization, and changing identity...Lee vibrantly describes life in pre-occupation Singapore, managing to cinch both the particularity and the universality of oppression."-- Singapore Unbound but the pacing was terrible, the ending 'cheap', also in my personal opinion it was very detached (maybe intentionally?) character wise even with so much trauma and intergenerational rifts involved, but still i respect the writer's craft. The writing is beautiful, and the story so poignant, I was completely invested and compelled to keep reading. I also absorbed the Singaporean culture from the time, as it was fascinating. Overall, this is another perspective on the atrocities of World War II, and a story that was important to share so that we never, ever forget. What really got to me was the ‘shame’ the women and ‘girls’ felt about themselves....for being forced into sexual slavery.

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’s hidden secret.These two stories are recorded and written down by Kevin, who wants to discover the long lost story of his late grandmother. It’s this and the intertwining of the two histories that builds the picture of the novel as a whole. Also in 2000, a 12-year-old boy named Kevin has just lost his grandmother, with whom he was very close. Just before she died, she discloses a long-held secret, one that will change his family’s life. The reader knows that the two stories will come together, but they do so in an unpredictable way.