Blossoms and Bayonets: A Story of Love, Faith and Courage under Japanese Occupation

by Jana McBurney-Lin, Hi-Dong Chai

Overview

Hi-Dong Chai and Jana McBurney-Lin, the award-winning author of My Half of the Sky, turn their hands to a remarkable story of a family and country torn apart by outside forces.

The time is 1942, the place, Japanese-occupied Seoul, Korea. Fifteen-year-old He-Seung is full of fire, ready to take on these Japanese…if only he could convince his father, a Christian minister more concerned about saving his flock in a time when Emperor-worship has become mandatory. Since occupation, the Japanese have eradicated the Korean language, names, even the country’s flower. Now they are seeking Korean boys as volunteers for their army. When his father is arrested by the Japanese, however, He-Seung must swallow his hatred of the enemy. Even harder, he must leave his mother and baby brother He-Dong to fend for themselves.

Based on a true story, Blossoms & Bayonets is suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period. The story lends an eyewitness perspective to events as they unfold. revealing an era of nuance and complexity. The result is a work that speaks volumes about how and why one war led to the next.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940015527056
Publisher:	Redwood Publishing
Publication date:	10/13/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

A native of Seoul, Korea, Hi-Dong Chai was a boy during WWII. He eventually came to the United States where he was educated as a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, worked for IBM, developed numerous patents, and taught as a Professor at San Jose State University. But he never forgot those early war years.

Jana McBurney-Lin lived in Asia for fifteen years, and wrote for media in seven countries, including National Public Radio, Writer’s Digest, Hemispheres, Islands Magazine, Singapore Straits Times and Japan Times. She is the author of the award-winning novel, My Half of the Sky.

Editorial Reviews

Blossoms and Bayonets is an intimate, powerful and engrossing page-turner. This must-read story illustrates the effect the Japanese occupation and World War II had on the Korean people. My WWII experience in the US was like a flea bite in comparison to a near death infection that was the Korea’s experience.

web - John Hawes--child of the war

McBurney-Lin crafts…an engaging and entertaining read from beginning to end.

Web - Midwest Review

Impossible to put down—or to forget—authors’ grippingly suspenseful and deeply affecting historical novel limns the lives of a Korean family under Japanese rule with astonishing grace and power.

web - Caroline Leavitt--bestselling author of Pictures of You