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So Far from the Bamboo Grove

From the back cover:

In the final days of World War II, Koreans were determined to take back control of their country from the Japanese and end the suffering caused by the Japanese occupation. As an eleven-year-old girl living with her Japanese family in northern Korea, Yoko is suddenly fleeing for her life with her mother and older sister, Ko, trying to escape to Japan, a country Yoko hardly knows.

Their journey is terrifying—and remarkable. It’s a true story of courage and survival that highlights the plight of individual people in wartime. In the midst of suffering, acts of kindness, as exemplified by a family of Koreans who risk their own lives to help Yoko’s brother, are inspiring reminders of the strength and resilience of the human spirit.

LKL says:

This is a fast-paced and gripping narrative of a hectic escape from war-torn Korea, and it is hard to find offence. Nevertheless, the author feels forced to write a new preface setting out the historical context for the benefit of readers who might not have known the background of Japan’s colonial occupation, and emphasising the life-saving help provided by a Korean family during the flight. The publisher provides endnotes to aid further reading.

LKL rating: score-2score-2score-2score-1score-0. Read our review of this book here.

External links:

* Where the book is available from a number of sources, they are prioritised as follows: (1) Amazon UK site, or Bookshop.org for the more recent uploads (2) Amazon US site (3) Other sites in US or Europe, including second-hand outlets (4) LTI Korea, where the title is advertised as available from there (5) Onlines stores in Korea. Links to Bookshop.org and Amazon UK site contain an affiliate code which, should you make a purchase, gives a small commission to LKL at no additional cost to you.