Product Description

Comfort Woman is the story of Akiko, a Korean refugee of World War II, and Beccah, her daughter by an American missionary. The two women are living on the edge of society--and sanity--in Honolulu, haunted by Akiko's periodic encounters with the spirits of the dead, and by Beccah's struggles to reclaim her mother from her past. Slowly and painfully Akiko reveals her tragic story as a "comfort woman" to Japanese soldiers. As Beccah uncovers these truths, she discovers her own strength and the precious gifts her mother has given her.

Penguin Readers Guide Bound into every Book Includes:
An introduction to the novel
A biographical note about the author
An interview with the author
Provocative discussion questions for reading groups

"Combines the familial intimacy of Louise Erdrich's early novels with the fierce magic of Toni Morrison's Beloved. . . . An impressive debut."-- Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28383 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Library Journal
In her first novel, Keller draws on the distinct voices of Beccah, an obituary writer, and her mother, Akiko, a spirit medium, to illustrate the the unconquerable love between mother and daughter. Beccah is lost on the path of life, unsure where her future lies, while her mother is lost in the past, her life caught up in the spirits of the dead, who have haunted her since her escape from the camps where she was a sex slave during the Japanese occupation of Korea in World War II. The story is told from these two women's points of view as each grapples with the terrors, real and imaginary, that dominate their lives. Beccah knows little of her mother's past, and when her mother dies, she is forced to confront the truth. Despite the atrocities recounted and the suffering endured, a fierce love binds these two spirits together, even in death. Highly recommended for all collections.
-?Erin Cassin, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In her haunting debut novel, Korean American Keller tells of the complex, loving bond between a mother and daughter. Akiko had been sold into prostitution during World War II when still a child. Her harsh memories of her experiences as a "comfort woman" to the Japanese army alternate with her daughter Beccah's more straightforward account of her attempts to fit in with the popular kids at the local high school. Completely ignorant of her mother's history, Beccah is ashamed of her mother's spiritual "trances," in which she seems to commune with the spirit world, leaving Beccah to fend for herself. When an enterprising Filipino woman successfully markets Akiko as a gifted fortune-teller, their finances improve dramatically, but Beccah is still confused by her mother's strange behavior. In the powerful, moving conclusion, Beccah finally discovers the truth about her family history. With a deft and subtle use of humor and an assured, lyrical prose style, Keller threads her graceful narrative with themes of identity and the search for self. Joanne Wilkinson

From Kirkus Reviews
First-novelist Keller, a Korean-American living in Hawaii, offers a shocking and unusual version of the mother-daughter relationship tale, in which a Korean woman whose experience as a ``comfort woman'' servicing Japanese troops during WW II profoundly distorts her own life and that of her Korean-American daughter. Poor, orphaned Kim Soon Hyo was only 12 when her oldest sister raised the money for her own dowry by selling Soon Hyo to the occupying Japanese. One of hundreds of girls kept like animals in stalls and forced to service long lines of soldiers, Soon Hyo was assigned the name Akiko--the name each girl inhabiting that stall had been given--then raped, beaten, humiliated, and adored on a daily basis, according to each soldier's whim. Profoundly traumatized, Soon Hyo struggled to survive by imagining herself emptied of her soul. As the war ends, Soon Hyo escapes to Pyongyang, where she marries an American missionary who knows her only by her hated Japanese name, returns with him to the US, and eventually gives birth to a daughter. When her husband dies, ``Akiko'' finds herself stranded in Hawaii with no money, a five- year-old child to care for, and a tenuous hold on her sanity. Rebeccah Bradley, Akiko's daughter, grows up in the shadow of her mother's periodic bouts of psychosis, periods that a number of locals view as true visitations from the spirit world and pay to witness, thus providing a modicum of financial support for the two females. Rebeccah, ignorant of her mother's traumatic childhood, struggles mightily to free herself from the terror and embarrassment of Akiko's fits, eccentricities, and neglect. It is only after Akiko's death, when Rebeccah herself is almost 30, that she learns the terrible secrets buried in her mother's past. Not at all a pretty story, but a memorable one, powerfully told. Keller brings her Korean characters to vivid, passionate life. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Comfort Woman review
This is captivating book about a former comfort woman, Akiko, and her daughter Beccah. Keller artfully weaves the tales of Akiko's comfort camp traumas with her new life as the mother of a teenage girl. Comfort Woman explores Beccah's hardships growing up with a less than normal mother, as the text serves as a journey for Beccah to understand her mother's past life. While discovering facts about her mother, Beccah finds herself on a journey of her own, as she begins to create her own self. Strangely, she finds much more of Akiko in her than she would ever have thought. Though parts of this book are painfully realistic, it is a deeply moving book. It is beautifully written and is certain to both warm and tear at your heart.

ORIENTALIST MUMBO JUMBO
So much of Asian American feminist fiction writes from an American sensibility (i.e. the female protagonist/narrator is an Americanized Asian American) that it Orientalizes or exotices Asia as the primordial homeland, usually using the mother as a link to a mystical, ancient world. Prof. Sheng Mei-ma has called this "ethnographic feminism."

Despite the fact that Keller has been prominently featured in the media and testifies that she has done "research" for this book, she obviously knws very little about Korea or shamanism. One could say she exercises a creative license, but unfortunately, Keller only succeeds in offering a mishmash of witch-doctor mumbo-jumbo. For eg, she conflates a comfort woman with a shaman (why? completely unbelievable given the social class realities of the time) and moreover portrays the immigrant mother's shamanism in a schizophrenic state of mental illness. The mother speaks an offensive caricature of broken English that embarrasses the young protagonist. Sloppy transliterations from Korean language and ridiculous scenes like the waving of a chicken over the head made me want to cringe. The immigrant never has a valid subjectivity, but is always portrayed as mystical, exotic and "other." There are moments of fine descriptive writing in some of the descriptions, but the overall teleological thread of the story--daughter reconciles with mother by understanding and coming to grips with the mystical homeland--is trite by now; much contemporary As Am fiction has now gone beyond this terrain already mapped out by Amy Tan. Although I appreciate the fact that this book raises awareness about the comfort woman issue, the contrived, Orientalist rendering of the Korean woman/immigrant as schizophrenic outsider detracts too much attention away for me. This is NOT about Korea at all, but about a Korean American author trying to image and construct a Korea she knows very little about. For a good KA novel, check out Susan Choi's _The Foreign Student_ instead.

Better than the others think
Comfort Woman is a beautifully written novel. The themes that run through most Asian American Women Literature are seen, but in an inventive way. The decentering of the story provides the story with an added dynamic play of not knowing who the protagonist is, and not needing to know. Postmodern in nature, this book rejects the typical beginning, middle, and end. Both the narratives of the mother and the daughter are necessary for this work. The daughter's are most important of all (I was shocked to read that someone thought they could be removed). This is not a fun read, it is shocking, moving, and requires much of the reader. If you are not willing to think while reading, then this book is not for you. It's a great book to use for discussion. I love the book, I own it, and I've bought it for many others.