As Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Blessed are the forgetful for they get the better even of their blunders.” If the past is something painful or bothersome to be reminded of, we may be best to think of it never again. Through the chapters of Hana, who is abducted by Japanese soldiers and forced into sexual slavery during the war years, Bracht reveals an individual story of one of the euphemistically labeled “comfort women.” Bracht also offers her reflection on how the tragic past has shaped the survivors through the chapters of Emi in 2011, Hana’s sister who constantly looks to the past from present-day Seoul.įorgetfulness sometimes can be bliss.

“White Chrysanthemum” alternates between the narratives of two Korean sisters. Her novel strives to bring back memories that must not be forgotten. Published in January this year, Mary Lynn Bracht’s “White Chrysanthemum” is her debut novel that resists such forgetting. After one generation and another, the individual and collective memories that people have long pledged to honor may gradually fade away. The generation of wartime victims will soon all be gone, as will the people who carry the memories of suffering under Japanese occupation. So far this year, four victims of Japan‘s wartime sexual slavery, including Choi, have passed away.

Choi Duk-nye‘s death brings the number of known surviving victims to 28. One of the victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery passed away Monday at 97.

Chatto & Windus Books (320 pages, $18.11)

Mary lynn bracht