White Mulberry

A Novel

De: Rosa Kwon Easton

Narrado por: Michelle H. Lee

“A beautiful and deeply researched novel…If you loved Pachinko, you’ll love White Mulberry.” —Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women

Inspired by the life of Easton’s grandmother, White Mulberry is a rich, deeply moving portrait of a young Korean woman in 1930s Japan who is torn between two worlds and must reclaim her true identity to provide a future for her family.

1928, Japan-occupied Korea. Eleven-year-old Miyoung has dreams too big for her tiny farming village near Pyongyang: to become a teacher, to avoid an arranged marriage, to write her own future. When she is offered the chance to live with her older sister in Japan and continue her education, she is elated, even though it means leaving her sick mother—and her very name—behind.

In Kyoto, anti-Korean sentiment is rising every day, and Miyoung quickly realizes she must pass as Japanese if she expects to survive. Her Japanese name, Miyoko, helps her find a new calling as a nurse, but as the years go by, she fears that her true self is slipping away. She seeks solace in a Korean church group and, within it, finds something she never expected: a romance with an activist that reignites her sense of purpose and gives her a cherished son.

As war looms on a new front and Miyoung feels the constraints of her adopted home tighten, she is faced with a choice that will change her life—and the lives of those she loves—forever.

©2024 Rosa Kwon Easton (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Narrator Michelle Lee transports listeners with this historical debut based on the life of the author's grandmother.… Lee's measured yet fluent delivery effectively depicts the well-researched political and social climate of that era. [T]his is an engaging listening experience.”—AudioFile Magazine

“In straightforward prose, Easton novelizes events that will compel readers seeking themes of identity, ‘passing’ in a different culture, immigration, and occupation.”—Booklist

“This is a unique historical novel with many well-knit threads.”—Historical Novels Review

Great Book

Unexpected storyline and i loved it. Resilient, strong and fearless. Mioko is fascinating, her love for her son is beautiful.

Sweeping Tale of Bravery and Family Devotion

This book was one of my favorite historical fiction novels that I''ve ever read. I oscillated between a paperback and the audio. Because I wanted to make sure that I got the name pronunciations right. I'm glad I did. But either way, the author does a wonderful job of giving the reader an inside experience of what it's like to be an immigrant and and have your heart pulled to different countries. The author's descriptions are wonderfully written. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction.

Understanding survival

In such hard times and trickery, the will to survive grows stronger with each day. Beautifully narrated and the story line well written from the heart.

Fascinating story

And even more intriguing and interesting to learn it is based on a true life story and experience.

Based on a real person.

I enjoyed how this novel brought to life the author’s grandmother.
A Korean woman who struggled to survive in wartime Japan.

Struggles and her unwavering determination

It dragged a little but was worth reading. I would have liked to know what happened beyond the point where the book ended.

The setting- a Korean during the occupation by Japan, following her footsteps from Korea to Japan and back

I enjoyed the story but it was a bit anticlimactic. I was listening on an audiobook and I had no idea I was near the last pages. I wanted to hear about the end of the occupation. It seemed incomplete.

What a lovely story. I was captivated immediately & loved the education about Korea & Japan.

A well written book that was a page-turner. I liked that the story was based on the author’s grandma’s life & that the author researched the time period to make the historical context of the store as accurate as possible.

DUPED

I WAS DUPED-NOT EVEN CLOSE TO PACHINKO
I ought to sue Lisa See for writing a blurb recommending this crap. I hope they paid Ms See a gob of ₩. But I'm glad this rag was free and I didn't waste my money on the ebook. I did spend $2 for the audiobook which is $2 I can't get back either. Amazon has zero refund policy on this one...they knew! Well played Amazon, well played.

Based on a true personal history, the author clearly took huge"creative license" to try and make a palatable tale, and it fell far from the mark. I hope NOT too many trees were killed to make this book - we could save the planet by not printing more copies of this...we are under a CLIMATE CHANGE WATCH, just saying.

If you got it for free, there's a reason why Amazon gave it away to Prime members for free. It's not the worst book I've read, but if I can save one person from wasting their time, then I did my job by writing this review. However, I encourage everyone to read it for themselves to know how terribly written this turned out. Readers who like simple will love this mush. I only read to the end to see how incredibly bad it could be, and this book aimed to fail-I was not let down.

I will keep trying to return the audiobook to get my $2 back....

Writing - POOR - grade school level, basic, "told" vs "shown" writing style

Plot - ridiculous, unrealistic because there's barely any context, drags, repetitive (loads of other reviewers mention this and they are not wrong)

Characters - barely on the believable scale, one-dimensional, not worth caring about. The Main Character is pure fantasy. She acts and behaves like someone who walked the NYC streets in 1980 and not 1930-40s Japan & Korea.

Best quote - she "now" loves the guy who knocked her up because he gave her a handkerchief.

Dialogue - forced, unbelievable, historically inaccurate for the phases and nuances

Complexity - zero, "told" vs "shown" writing style

Readability - simple, you don't need to concentrate, skip a few paragraphs, and you'll have missed nothing important. It should be labeled "FANTASY" and not historical fiction.

Off to share my highlights of the ebook of the most nonsensical lines. I'd rather play & lose in Squid Games than read this again....

Religious Christian propaganda camouflaged as a feminist novel

I thought it would be a look into Japanese-occupied Korea and the life of a woman at those times who yearned for something more than an arranged marriage, motherhood, and doing what she was told.

Instead I got Christian propaganda that pretended to be about promoting a woman’s rights and did heavy proselytizing, with a dash of martyrdom.

Having went to a Christian school for some time, I can honestly say that they are not pro-women’s rights and choice. The man is the head of the household, “thou shalt not suffer a woman to be above you,” and you just need to look at the agenda and laws the Christian party is passing to see that what they stand for runs counter to the original premise of this book.

If you’re not already brainwashed into the religion, I absolutely would not recommend this book. DNF and I do that pretty rarely.