Black flower

by Young-ha Kim

Paper Book, 2012

Status

Available

Publication

Boston, Mass. : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012.

Description

A tale of star-crossed love, political turmoil, and the dangers of seeking freedom in a new world, Black Flower is an epic story based on a little-known moment in history.

User reviews

LibraryThing member cbl_tn
I've read a lot of non-fiction books that seem like novels. This may be my first novel that seems like non-fiction. It tells the story of the thousand-odd Koreans who left Korea during the Russo-Japanese War. They were headed for Mexico's Yucatán in the belief that it offered better opportunities
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than Japanese-occupied Korea. When they arrived, they discovered that they had been tricked into signing contracts for indentured servitude on henequen plantations. The novel follows several of the Korean immigrants from Korea to the plantations and through the Mexican Revolution.

There would have been little to hold my interest had the book been set in a different location. I would have preferred to read a non-fiction historical work on this topic, but apparently documentary sources are scarce. The novel included content I usually avoid in fiction, including supernatural elements such as demon possession as well as a few brief but graphic descriptions of sex. The novel also reminds me a bit of the few magical realism works I've read, but I don't think that element is strong enough to appeal to fans of that genre. I think this book will appeal most strongly to readers interested in Korean, Asian, Mexican, and/or Central American history.

This review is based on an electronic advanced reading copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
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Awards

Man Asian Literary Prize (Longlist — 2012)

Language

Original language

Korean
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