A Gift of the Emperor - by Therese Park (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A Gift of the Emperor is the poignant fictional account of real-life atrocities inflicted upon more than 200,000 Asian women by the Japanese military during World War II. This haunting story is narrated by Soon-ah, a Korean schoolgirl whose life is shattered when Emperor Hirohito's soldiers abduct her from her village and ship her and her schoolmates to a "house of relaxation" in the South Pacific. Here, on an island with surreal beauty, Soon-ah is forced into prostitution as a "comfort woman" to the Japanese military. This scorching account of one woman's endurance of sexual degradation and the unspeakable horror of war provides compelling testimony to the strength of the human spirit, the power of love over hate, and the ultimate triumph of hope over despair.

Review Quotes

"The searing horrors of history come alive in stories that add flesh and blood to the dry bones of evidence and news reports. Therese Park has given us such a vivid story. Her intelligent, nuanced and humane work paints a portrait of human courage, hope, love, and survival under conditions most of us cannot even imagine." --Rita Nakashima Brock, co-author of Casting Stone: Prostitution and Liberation in Asia and the United States

About the Author

A retired symphonic cellist, Therese Park is the author of two published novels and more than 30 essays and articles that have appeared in the United States, Canada, and South Korea. Her second novel When a Rooster Crows at Night, published in 2003, is based on her experience of the Korean War.