How We Disappeared, JingJing Lee
How We Disappeared, JingJing Lee
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How We Disappeared

Author: Jing-Jing Lee

Narrator: Angela Lin, Ryun Yu

Unabridged: 11 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/07/2019


Synopsis

*A Library Journal “Emerging Stars” Pick*

A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel set in World War II Singapore about a woman who survived the Japanese occupation and a man who thought he had lost everything—for fans of Pachinko and We Were the Lucky Ones

Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child.

In a neighboring village, seventeen-year-old Wang Di is strapped into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel where she is forced into sexual slavery as a “comfort woman.” After sixty years of silence, what she saw and experienced still haunts her.

In the year 2000, twelve-year-old Kevin is sitting beside his ailing grandmother when he overhears a mumbled confession. He sets out to discover the truth, wherever it might lead, setting in motion a chain of events he never could have foreseen.

Weaving together two time lines and two very big secrets, this stunning debut opens a window on a little-known period of history, revealing the strength and bravery shown by numerous women in the face of terrible cruelty. Drawing in part on her family’s experiences, Jing-Jing Lee has crafted a profoundly moving, unforgettable novel about human resilience, the bonds of family and the courage it takes to confront the past.

About Jing-Jing Lee

Jing-Jing Lee was born and raised in Singapore. She earned a master's degree in creative writing from Oxford in 2011 and has since seen her poetry and short stories published in various journals and anthologies. How We Disappeared is her first novel. She currently lives in Amsterdam.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Angela M on May 29, 2019

They were called “comfort women”, a soft description meant to make what was done by the Japanese soldiers to these young girls and women from Korea and this case Singapore, to make it sound less threatening, less horrific. But what they endured was horrific - the rapes and sexual abuse, slavery, loc......more

Goodreads review by Dr. Appu on August 28, 2022

This book follows the twelve-year-old Kevin's zealous journey to discern the truth about his grandmother Wang Di. Kevin is trying to discover what happened to his grandmother during 1942 when the Japanese troops rummaged Singapore. Wang Di was unfortunately shipped to the military rape camp in J......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on May 13, 2019

How We Disappeared has two timelines. The first is set during World War II, and the location is Singapore. Japanese troops have been marching through Malaysia. One village is almost completely wiped out; only three survive the attack. In a nearby village, Wang Di is captured and sent to a Japanese m......more

Goodreads review by Meike on March 03, 2020

Now Nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020 This sprawling epic talks about the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WW II and its repercussions which affect families until this day. I applaud Jing-Jing Lee for illustrating that history is never really over and how important it is to be a......more

Goodreads review by Neale on March 18, 2020

Longlisted for the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction. Wang Di is a disappointment to her parents. Why? Because she was born a girl instead of a boy. The name her parents gave here “Wang” meaning hope and “Di” meaning boy, a constant reminder of this disappointment every time somebody calls her name. Kevi......more