Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews

Daughters of the Dragon is a novel about a Korean woman during World War II. I was pulled into the story from the first page due in large part to the book’s subtitle: “a comfort woman’s story”. When I was in school, I, like everyone else, heard many horrifying accounts of World War II. However, I had never heard of “comfort women” until this book. They were young women who were forced into prostitution for the Japanese soldiers. They were raped and beaten, and many died as a result of this treatment. To this day, there is controversy regarding this topic.

               
This story attempts to tell one of these women’s tales. Her name is Ja-hee, and she was 14 years old when she and her sister received a summons to go to a shoe factory to help in the Japanese war effort. When they arrived, there was no shoe factory. They had been duped. Instead, day after day, they were raped by dozens of men. If they resisted, they were beaten. If they became pregnant, they were forced to have an abortion, which killed many of them.

               
Without a doubt, this is a tough story to read, but while I found it be heartbreaking, I also found it fascinating. Not only did I learn more about World War II, but I also learned more about Korea after the war. While this is a historical novel, it spurred me on to want to learn more about the facts behind the fiction. I’d recommend giving this book a try, especially if you too have never heard about this aspect of World War II.