House of the Winds

by Mia Yun

Overview

1960s Korea. A girl stands in the middle of the sunny cabbage patch with her mother. The air is full of butterflies (the souls of little children in afternoon naps) and secrets (though they were not secrets at the time). House of the Winds is a portrait of a family whose lives have been deeply affected by the tumultuous long years of Japanese rule and the Korean War. And it is the story of one mother and one daughter. Young Wife is a magic-wand mother who tells stories of the time when tigers smoked pipes. One day her white summer blouse runs deep red, mango-red and azalea pink. Who knows from where this sudden sadness sprouted? Her youngest daughter is our guide through this world in which an American electric iron is so powerful it sets off a coup d'état. The daughter begins to see "how Korean women, descendents of the she-bear woman and the son of the king of heaven, lived in the folds of history...laughing, wailing, spirit-cajoling, poetry-writing, tear-hiding, bosom-bracing, scheming, fire-breathing."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566563055
Publisher:	Interlink Publishing Group, Incorporated
Publication date:	10/01/1998
Series:	Emerging Voices Series
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mia Yun was born and grew up in Korea. She was educated at Hankuk University in Seoul and City College in New York, where she now lives. This is her first novel.

What People are Saying About This

Cynthia Ozick

Her imagination flowers into startling fresh imagery. Her sentences are pure, simple and exquisitely shaded: they have an airy, eerie quality (eerie in the sense of being distant and near). . . It is time for Mia Yun's distinctive and enriching talent, rooted in a vision utterly new to our marveling eyes, to find the wider recognition it deserves

Rebecca Stowe

[A] beautifully told story of a young girl growing up in a Korea emerging from the devastation of occupation and civil war. Intertwining memory, myth, dreams and imagination, the young narrator captures a world in which the old and the new, the innocent and the cunning, the East and the West, all clash and embrace. . . Each Chapter is like a panel of a delicately painted screen, depicting a small -- and exotic, to Western eyes -- world unto itself. But ultimately, Yun unfolds the screen to reveal a much larger -- and unexpectedly familiar -- vista.

Barney Rosset

Through the haunting and evocative prose of Mia Yun's fine novel, we see, feel, and know a Korea which until now, despite our participation in its modern day civil war, has yet remained hidden from us. She beautifully melds Korea's enduring strength, achievements, and above all, its tragic past within an almost contemporary setting. . . The voice of a Korean woman who will be heard (Barney Rosset, founder of Grove Press).

Editorial Reviews

"Yun's first novel is a warm and vivid reminiscence of the relationship between a girl and her mother... Eloquently written in a language that is both metaphorical and poetic, this is an excellent addition to the series."

"This is a novel full of beautiful and vivid descriptions: the shape of fruit, the play of light, the sensuous qualities of water, warmth, and touch."

"The Story bends and weaves its colors like a needle creating an embroidery... It is richly written and starkly written, a charming and terrifying read."

From the Publisher

"Her imagination flowers into startling fresh imagery. Her sentences are pure, simple and exquisitely shaded."

Cynthia Ozick

"The Story bends and weaves its colors like a needle creating an embroidery... It is richly written and starkly written, a charming and terrifying read."

Korean Quarterly

"This is a novel full of beautiful and vivid descriptions: the shape of fruit, the play of light, the sensuous qualities of water, warmth, and touch."

Booklist

...[A] poignant debut novel about the struggles of women raising families alone in the aftermath of the Japanese occupation and Korean War....Don't forget the tissues.
— AsianWeek

Heather Harlan

The story of a girl's childhood in Korea, Yun's first novel is a warm and vivid reminiscence of the relationship between a girl and her mother. The Korea of her memories was occupied by the Japanese, whose harsh rule was followed by the devastation of the Korean War. Young Wife, her mother, is a quietly courageous woman who keeps her three children together. Though abandoned by her husband, she manages to provide food, clothing, shelter, and schooling while she nourishes the children's souls with tales of a forgotten, peaceful time in Korea: a time when tigers smoked pipes and history, tradition, and magic blended together to create an exciting, viable culture. Eloquently written in language that is both metaphorical and poetic, this is an excellent addition to the series.--Janis Williams, Shaker Heights P.L., OH

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