Review by zulfiyya -- The Vanished by Pejay Bradley

[zulfiyya]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Between 1910 and 1945, Korea fell victim to Japanese annexation. To gain complete control over Korea, Japan enforced laws meant to erase Korean people's longstanding culture, language, and traditions. Statistics, numbers and historical documents wouldn't be enough to understand the real intensity of Japanese crimes against Koreans. The Vanished is a historical fiction novel centred around the life of (Kim) Embon, an aristocratic Korean boy born and raised during the early years of Japanese rule. From 1912 to 1932, all Embon has lived to see is the increasingly brutal marginalization of Koreans by Japanese authorities. After discovering politics and philosophy in university, Embon adopts a revolutionary zeal and seeks to fight for Korean independence with his fellow trusted friends. This time in history cost Koreans their freedom and lives. Pejay Bradley never misses the mark in capturing the horrific details of Korea's unfortunate past.

Everything I liked about this book could receive its separate paper: Foreshadowing, narration, diversity of characters, historical context, length of the book, and more. My two most favourite things were the narration style and diversity of characters. The book is both in the third person and first-person perspective. Lady Sougyon - Embon's mother - is the first-person narrator and the only character whose personal thoughts are known. Every other character is narrated in the third person, including Embon. Being high class, an aristocratic woman in a loveless marriage with a scoundrel of a husband, Lady Sougyon has a very unique and individual experience of Japanese occupation. She's a good lady but selfish, often forgetting to remember how life could be for others less fortunate than herself. Despite her favourable aristocratic lifestyle, her suffering and despair prove that nobody could escape the horror that Japan relinquished on the Korean people. The other characters, Embons father, Mr. Seoh, Mr. Seoh's daughter, and King Gojung, to name a few, played to diversify the story. Whether they were a woman, man, young, old, wealthy, poor, attached to Korean tradition or not attached to Korean tradition, every one of these Korean characters helped to define the mindset Koreans possessed between 1910-1945. Despite their varying levels of devotion to Korea and different classes on the Korean social ladder, they were all negatively affected by Japanese rule.

This book was exceptionally well-edited—no grammar errors or typos. From a technical aspect, one might consider Pejay Bradley's perspective to be biased because she was born in Korea and went to a Korean university. Still, in my opinion, her bias is irrelevant given that the book is historical fiction. If anything, her close roots to Korea may have propelled the story further than it would have played out written by someone who is not Korean and looking through a purely historical lens. I have limited knowledge of Korean history, tradition and culture; however, from the brief research I've gathered to help me contextualize, The Vanished appears to do an excellent job to reproduce the horrors of Japanese annexation in story format.

From a non-experts point of view, this book was a fantastic story that successfully captured the intensity of Koreans' suffering and tragedy at the hands of Japan. I rate The Vanished 4 out of 4 stars, and I would love to reread it after coming back with better knowledge about the history. I am interested in discovering how my view of each character change once I come back with even more context.

The author did an excellent job of incorporating the traditional cultural norms present from early 20th century Korea which could be attractive for those who love learning about culture and tradition. Someone with a passion for politics will be fascinated by the courage and determination of Embon. Anyone who loves to escape into the past will adore the comprehendible historical context neatly woven into the story. The age group best suited for this novel would be mature teens and older. A few descriptions are too gory for children, and some themes may be uncomfortable, but they don't make up a significant portion of the novel. The themes that are there are necessary to describe the intensity of the crimes.

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The Vanished
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[Mtibza eM]

Great review. I also read and rated this book a 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to others as well, especially those who are interested in South Korean's history.