Daughters of the Dragon: A Comfort Woman's Story (28 page)

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

This book is a work of fiction. Nevertheless, it is based on historical facts. To learn more about comfort women and Korea, see the following books.

On Comfort Women

1.
      
Wallace Edwards.
Comfort Women: A History of Japanese Forced Prostitution During the Second World War
, Amazon Digital Services, 2013

2.
     
George Hicks.
The Comfort Women: Japan’s Brutal Regime of Enforced Prostitution in the Second World War.
W. W. Norton & Company,
1997.

3.
      
Dai Sil Kim-Gbson.
Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women,
Mid-Prairie Books, 1999.

4.
     
Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan
.
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women
, Cassell, 1996.

5.
     
Jan Ruff-O’Henne.
Fifty Years of Silence: The Extraordinary Memoir of a War Rape Survivor
, Random House, 2008.

6.
     
Peipei Qui
.
Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan's Sex Slaves
, Oxford University Press,  2014
.

7.
     
C. Sarah Soh.
The Comfort Women: Sexual Violence and Postcolonial Memory in Korea and Japan
University of Chicago Press,  2009.

8.
     
Yoshimi Yoshiaki.
Comfort Women
, Columbia University Press, 2002.

9.
     
Yuki Tanaka.
Japan's Comfort Women
, Routledge, 2001.

10.
      
Yuki Tanaka.
Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes In World War II
, Westview Press, 1997.

On Korean History

1.
      
Michael Breen.
The Koreans. Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies.
Thomas Dunne Books, 2004.

2.
     
Bruce Cummings.
Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History
, W.W. Norton & Company, 2005.

3.
      
Don Oberdorfer.
The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History,
Basic Books, 2001.

4.
     
Keith Pratt.
Everlasting Flower: A History of Korea
, Reaktion Books, 2006.

5.
     
Michael J. Seth.
A Conscise History of Korea,
Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.

P
hotos of
C
omfort
W
omen

A young comfort woman liberated in southern China

Comfort Station 1943

A former comfort woman interviewed in 2009

Photos used by permission

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

Photo by Greg Thoen

W
illiam Andrews
is a retired advertising executive living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His first book, The Essential Truth won the 2008 Mahaven Book Award.

Visit Bill’s website at: www.williamandrewsbooks.com

AUTHOR Q & A

Q
:  What inspired you to write this book?

A
:  Probably the most influential thing is my daughter who was born in Korea. Because of her I learned about Korea and thought it was fascinating. Especially considering what happened in the 20th Century.

Q
:  Like what?

A
:  The three regimes that controlled the peninsula. The Japanese, the communists and the Americans. And the comfort women. I’m continually amazed at how few Americans know what happened to these women.

I believe this story needs to be told. And if I may, I’d like to encourage readers who agree and who enjoyed the book to recommend this book to others and write reviews on retailers’ web sites.

Q
:   There’s a lot of history in this book. Is it accurate?

A
:  First, please know that I’m a storyteller, not a history expert. Still, I tried to make this book as historically accurate as possible. I did a ton of research and got help from several history experts. So I’d have to say yes, it’s accurate.

Q
:   Was it difficult to write some of the more brutal scenes?

A
:   Very difficult. I tried hard to be respectful of the reader and the comfort women. I did not want to be exploitive. But I felt I had a responsibility to show what actually happened to these women. It has to be brutal because that’s what they experienced.

Still, there were things I couldn’t write. For example, when Colonel Matsumoto first rapes Ja-hee, I couldn’t write that in real time. I had to pull it out of the narrative into the present-day frame. Even then, it was a challenge to write that chapter.

Q
:   You draw parallels between what the Japanese did in the comfort stations and what the Americans did in the
kijichons
. Were the Americans as bad as the Japanese?

A
:  Of course not. But, what I wrote about the Americans is true. Until recently, the US military turned a blind eye to some of the illegal and unethical things our troops were doing in the
kijichons
; tricking girls, putting them in situations they could not possibly get out of. It wasn’t anything close to what the Japanese did, however. They actually sponsored the comfort stations. But as Ja-hee says to Colonel Crawford, from the girls’ perspective, what’s the difference?

Q
:   What about the two-headed dragon with five toes?

A
:   I invented the two-headed dragon. However, the emperor and empress were the only ones allowed to have dragon artifacts with five toes.

Q
:   You talk a lot about Empress Myeongseong.

A
:   Yes, she’s a fascinating figure in Korean history. The Koreans worship her. And please forgive a plug, but I’m working on a loose sequel to Daughters of the Dragon called The Korean Queen. It’s the story of Empress Myeongseong. (See the following pages for more information.)

One last thing
. I’d like to ask readers to please go to their online retailer and write a review of this book. Or, send me an e-mail at [email protected]. It’s the only way I can get feedback from my readers!

C
oming in 2016
:
T
HE
K
OREAN
Q
UEEN

By William Andrews

T
HE KOREAN QUEEN
is
the
remarkable story of Empress Myeongseong, Korea’s last empress. A poor country peasant, Ja-young becomes the leader of the Hermit Kingdom through her intelligence and great courage. Called the ‘Queen Victoria of Korea’ the Empress leads her country into the modern world all the while fighting the Japanese imperialists and her lazy husband’s father, Daewongun, Korea’s treacherous regent.

Anna Carlson tells the Empress’ story to State Department official Nick Blackburn as war between North and South Korea threatens. In the story, Nick see surprising similarities with the current situation in Korea and realizes true leadership requires great courage which is often at odds with the political establishment. He decides to risk his career and along with Anna who he has learned has a surprising heredity, pushes for a controversial, but peaceful solution to the Korean situation.

(Sign up for a
20% discount
on the cover price of THE KOREAN QUEEN by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Please put: Pre-order for THE KOREAN QUEEN in the subject line.)

Other Books by William Andrews:

The Essential Truth

An Exercise in Sacrifice

T
HE
E
SSENTIAL
T
RUTH

A Novel by William Andrews

W
hen the founder of
Jacob and Marin Advertising mysteriously dies, Ben Smith must take over the agency just as their largest account comes up for review. He becomes the victim of Watergate-like dirty tricks because his agency does the campaign advertising for Congresswoman Janice Theilen who is running against Senator William Howard for his senate seat. Sheldon Hanrahan, the billionaire head of a rival advertising agency, controls Howard and needs the Senator to win big in the election so he can launch a presidential campaign. If Howard wins the presidency, Sheldon will impose his radical vision on America. To keep the agency afloat, and to keep Howard from winning reelection, Ben must confront not only Sheldon but also demons from his past. And, he must learn to become a leader. The stakes are high, and Sheldon is a powerful and cunning foe, but Ben has secret allies behind the scenes. 

The Essential Truth is full of suspense, mystery and action as well as plot twists, a murder investigation and even a chase scene. And, The Essential Truth shows the reader the quirky personalities and workings of an advertising agency.

WINNER OF THE MAYHAVEN AWARD FOR FICTION

Available soon through major on-line booksellers or from:

www.williamandrewsbooks.com