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A review by loriluo
The Picture Bride by Lee Geum-yi
3.0
At the young age of 18, Willow is informed that she's to be married to a man she's never seen. All she has is a photograph of Taewan, and the promise that as a man 9 years her senior, he will be able to take care of her despite the fact she she must leave her home in Korea for Hawaii. What draws her in, however, is that she'll be able to attend school there, despite being a girl in 1918. She makes the arduous journey with several other "picture brides" where they eventually all meet their husbands, many of whom are not who they said they were. Willow initially considers herself lucky as her husband matches the photograph of him she received, but she's unprepared for the difficulties of life as Taewan's wife, and her life is completely upended.
There are some very heavy topics that "The Picture Bride" covers, including the mistreatment of Korean women during this time as many were placed into arranged marriages, domestic abuse, and the ongoing racial tensions between these countries during the time. There's a lot of adversity that Willow, later known as Pearl, overcomes and the determination of these women to make their marriages and new families work, despite the circumstances.
However, this was not an overall positive read for me. I'm not sure if this is more attributable to the original novel or the translation, but much of the sentence structure and prose is limited, with little variety in length, tone, and complexity. The transitions between passages and scenes is jarring at times, and don't flow well. I found Willow a difficult character to like as well - for most of the book, her focus is simply on the appearance and wealth of her future husband, and there's little depth to her character or personality.
While I appreciated the premise of this novel, it wasn't an enjoyable read for me.
Thank you Forge Books for the advance copy of this novel!
There are some very heavy topics that "The Picture Bride" covers, including the mistreatment of Korean women during this time as many were placed into arranged marriages, domestic abuse, and the ongoing racial tensions between these countries during the time. There's a lot of adversity that Willow, later known as Pearl, overcomes and the determination of these women to make their marriages and new families work, despite the circumstances.
However, this was not an overall positive read for me. I'm not sure if this is more attributable to the original novel or the translation, but much of the sentence structure and prose is limited, with little variety in length, tone, and complexity. The transitions between passages and scenes is jarring at times, and don't flow well. I found Willow a difficult character to like as well - for most of the book, her focus is simply on the appearance and wealth of her future husband, and there's little depth to her character or personality.
While I appreciated the premise of this novel, it wasn't an enjoyable read for me.
Thank you Forge Books for the advance copy of this novel!