Why a Booktrail?
20th C – A New York artist traces her Korean roots and with it comes an interesting tale of Korean heritage and the revelation of a family legacy.
One Thousand Chestnut Trees
What you need to know before your trail
This is the story of a young New York artist, Anna, tracing her Korean roots. It is a interesting tale, told by Anna, her mother and her grandfather and is a mixture of Korean history with tales of a family legacy .
It is a journey of personal discovery for Anna, the main protagonist, who half Irish and half Korean, is bullied due to her mixed heritage. She grows up in New England and in later years her uncle Hong-do visits. She realises once he’s gone however that she could have made an effort to get to know him and therefore find out about her heritage. It’s only when she is older and she loses her job in a bookstore (it closes) that she eventually makes the journey ‘back home’.
Travel Guide
Korean history – from the horrors of the Japanese occupation to the split of the into the North and the South and the terrible war that ensued, through the modernization of Korea into a Westernized country that maintains its own unique Eastern identity and traditions.
It really does give you an insight into why and how Korea’s people country first became segregated and how this segregation not only affects the day to day but also the mindset and the cultures of the people on both sides of the divide.
Most of the book is about Anna’s mother and her family as they grow up in Korea. Through their eyes we see the chaos and hardship placed on to them by the Japanese and how they took their lands and tried to bring Japanese culture and language to them by force.
This is a story of two halves – half of Anna is American and half Korean. Similarly Korea itself is spilt in two. How to reconcile?
After reading this book you do get a new found respect for Korea as a country and its people and some sort of awareness surrounding the human angle of the news headlines on television. This is the story of the true Korea as it is the story of the Korean spirit. And from the ‘other side’ as it were comes from Anna where she now lives in Vermont.
The title gives a poignant insight into the uncle’s history and past. (but no spoilers here) .
Where Next?
