Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews

WWII was filled with horrors, and the treatment of Comfort Women is a part of that history that has been covered up for decades. Knowing this however, I do recommend it as reading. There are some chapters that are very very hard to read. It’s an historical fiction book, and as such, it fictionalizes the experiences of a woman who is an amalgam of the experiences of thousands of women of Korea. Anna decides to accept the comb, and all that it represents. Jae-hee gives the comb to Anna, asking if she is ready to take the comb, knowing the consequences and responsibilities that it entails. That of a two headed dragon, signifying the dragons protection of all of Korea The comb given to her by her sister, who received it from her mother, continuing back to the Empress who unified Korea, and created a new symbol for Korea.

But through it all, Jae-hee has one constant.

Jae-hee’s story is a difficult one, chronicling her life from living on her parents farm, to being pressed into being a Comfort Woman, working in a Cat House, living under Communist rule in Northern Korea, and her life after defecting to South Korea. Her name is Hong Jae-hee, and she needs Anna to know her story. The elderly woman turns out to be Anna’s grandmother, who needs to share her story with Anna. After debating the request, and showing the comb to her father and the tour guide, Anna decides to visit the address. It contains an old comb an address, and a request to be at the address tomorrow. But when she leaves the orphanage, sad and confused, an old woman presses a package into her hand. She learns at the orphanage that her mother died in childbirth, and Ana will be the only person in her group to not meet their mother. So I’m only going to review the book, and let you, my dear reader, to your own investigation into “Comfort Women”.ĭaughters of the Dragon opens with Anna visiting Korea to find her birth mother. Prostitution was, and still is, a huge issue in Korea, and is far too nuanced to get into here. Young women all over Korea were pressed into being “Comfort Women” at stations where Japanese soldiers were stationed during WWII. The imoprtant story being that of the “Comfort Women” of Korea during WWII. His daughter is Korean, and he felt this was an important story to be told. And thus begins a tale spanning nearly 70 years.ĭaughters of the Dragon is the third novel by William Andrews. On leaving the orphanage that handled her adoption, a strange woman presses a small package into Anna’s hand.

Anna Carlson, still reeling from the death of her adopted mother, returns to Korea to search for her birth mother.

Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews