White Mulberry

White Mulberry begins in Japan occupied Korea in 1928. Eleven-year-old Miyoung dreams of becoming a teacher in her tiny farming village in Pyongyang and avoiding an arranged marriage. Miyoung’s chance for a better future comes when she is offered a chance to live with her sister Bobeh & her husband in Kyoto Japan and continue her education. To avoid racial discrimination, Miyoung goes by the name Miyoko a more Japanese name to build a life for herself & pursues a new career as a nurse. Over the years, Miyoung/Miyoko finds solace with her church group, falls in love & has a son Ko Chan. As World War II is on the horizon Miyoung has to make a choice that will change her life and Ko Chan’s life forever.

Research, Writing, Characters & History

I did a Q&A with Rosa Kwon Easton before reading this book and we discussed how she used her grandmother Halmeoni’s story to write this novel. It took over a decade of research. The research & writing was excellent. There were many times while I read this novel that I forgot that this was Rosa’s first novel. Miyoung is a character you root for. Its hard for her to deny being Korean and basically pretending to be Japanese when she had to, but she knew she must in order to survive. I also had no idea Japan when the war approached that they outlawed Christian churches because of their ties to America. Then again Japan even hundreds of years before the war didn’t always treat Christians well either. To read more information about White Mulberry & about this historical period here is the link to our Q&A

https://booknotions.com/qa-with-rosa-kwon-easton/

Overall

Overall, I enjoyed this one a lot. Thank you, Rosa, for bringing this historical fiction novel to life. White Mulberry will be available on December 3^rd of this year. If you know a family member or a friend, who enjoys historical fiction, preorder White Mulberry. It would make a great Christmas gift.