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How We Disappeared
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
When her husband dies in the year 2000, Wang Di is forced into the solitary life of a widow in modern Singapore. But this new silence brings with it a surge of memories, taking her back to the brutal events of the Japanese invasion which altered the course of her life forever.Twelve-year-old Kevin is preoccupied with his own family worries; his father is suffering from depression, Kevin is being bullied at school, and his beloved grandmother's health is declining fast. And then, on her deathbed, she makes a surprising confession - one she never meant for Kevin to hear.Back in 1942, Wang Di is sixteen years old and forced into sexual slavery as a Comfort Woman. What she sees and experiences will haunt her present nearly sixty years later. Meanwhile, after his grandmother's death, Kevin sets about finding out the truth - a truth that will lead him to Wang Di; to the events of that brutal war and to a reckoning no one is prepared for and which can no longer be suppressed.They say the truth will set you free - but what if its horrors have been the very chains you have longed to escape from your whole life?
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DebinHawaii
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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#CoverLove

A cover I love with #Leaves 🌿🍃🌴💚

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Beautiful 💚 5mo
42 likes1 comment
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VanessaCW
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

I read this book with my local reading group. It‘s not light Christmastime reading that‘s for sure! It‘s quite harrowing and deals with some disturbing stuff. I can‘t say I enjoyed it but it is compelling, a dark and difficult read and I can appreciate that it is a good book.

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VanessaCW
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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I‘m reading this with my local book group. Not sure it‘s my thing especially at Christmastime (I usually pick something lighter) but I‘m giving it a go.

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ChaoticMissAdventures
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

"It's been many years but I remember everything. That's something I hadn't counted on. I remember everything."
This is an incredibly hard book to read. Wang Di a young girl in Singapore is captured by the Japanese and forced to be a Comfort Woman. I had known about Comfort Woman of Korea, but this is my 1st reading of them in Singapore.
We also follow the story of her husband who dies at the beginning of the book and a boy named Kevin.

ChaoticMissAdventures The drawback always to having a couple of storylines from different times and character POV is that the reader is going to care more about one POV than the others. I found the switching of POVs pulled me out of the story, and I was annoyed when Kevin appeared. I appreciate how the stories wove together in the end but could have done w/o Kevin. 14mo
38 likes1 comment
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ChaoticMissAdventures
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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I couldn't stop thinking about her...... "How painful her bewilderment was to Jeomsun & me, not just because of her certain, inevitable doom, but because of the reminder it served us, how we had come into this place. How the months and years had chipped away our horror, and what we had to get used to to survive."
This is not a book for the faint of heart ?

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ChaoticMissAdventures
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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#bookspin - How We Disappeared
#doublespin - The Black Flamingo

Thanks @thearomaofbooks!

TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Looks fantastic!! 1y
27 likes1 comment
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Beccaf
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
Pickpick

A very well written book on a very hard subject. Written so that you could have empathy with all of the characters. The ending has left me wondering or is it that I don't really need to know?

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TalesandTexts
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

This book explores two timelines and narratives - one during the Japanese occupation of Singapore and another a few decades after it.

I think books like these are really important for humanity to retain its horrifying history.

While the work could have been shorter by a few chapters, overall it was illuminating. The two narrators deserve a standing ovation for their commitment to bringing this book to life.

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JyothiNJ
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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I haven‘t read many wartime books. I am reading this as a Buddy read with a couple of friends. I am 160 pages into the books and I can say that the writing is indeed captivating so far.

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Kalalalatja
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

This gave me Pachinko-vibes, which is high praise for me. We follow dual time lines about the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WW2 and around the beginning of 2000. We learn about Wang Di‘s experiences in a brutal time and about Kevin‘s quest for knowledge about his family. Wang Di‘s story was stronger imo, and the ending got a bit too neat, but it was a pleasure getting there. 👌

Thanks again @erzascarletbookgasm ❤️

#DoubleSpin #Bookspin

Amiable I too loved “Pachinko,“ so I will definitely be picking this one up. Thanks! 4y
TheAromaofBooks Oh wow I love this cover!!! 4y
erzascarletbookgasm Glad this is a Pick for you 😊 4y
78 likes1 stack add3 comments
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kellock
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

What a wonderful book. A story about events in history I had no idea about. Told in an understated way. I wasn't sure about the Kevin chapters but by the end felt they were hugely necessary to the story. A shift near the end took us down a road I wasn't expecting. A beautiful read.

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kellock
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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She began in the first month of the lunar year.

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kellock
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Today's buzz word was procrastination. To avoid work I moved the furniture. Cosied it up a bit and have a comfy little reading spot.

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kellock
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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This is what we call an exercise avoidance reading session. 📚 or 🏃‍♂️? No contest!

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kellock
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Next up. I've read a few books set in Asia recently. Can't lie was drawn to the cover of this one. Sooooo pretty 😍

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Kalalalatja
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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I have had a day..... but coming home to some surprise #bookmail makes it all a bit better 😍 I have a feeling this might be from @erzascarletbookgasm but I‘m not sure? ☺️

erzascarletbookgasm Ah, it has arrived. 👍 You can read this for ReadingAsia2021 if you‘re participating. Hope you‘re settling down in your new place, Katja. 💕 4y
Kalalalatja @erzascarletbookgasm I haven‘t decided yet, but I‘m starting to think I might join 😄 it sounds like a mix between Pachinko and Do Not Say We Have Nothing, and I loved both, so I‘m very excited about it. Thank you my friend ☺️💕 4y
Kalalalatja @erzascarletbookgasm and we are beginning to settle in, but everything feels a bit chaotic with work and covid, so I can‘t wait till I‘m off for Christmas, so I can actually relax a bit 🤞 hope everything is well with you? 4y
BookNAround What a simply gorgeous cover! The book sounds good too. 4y
erzascarletbookgasm Things are not too bad for us, Katja. Hope you‘ll get to relax and enjoy your new space this coming holidays! 😊💕 4y
64 likes1 stack add5 comments
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charl08
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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We went past servants with their starched white blouses, and mothers with babies strapped to their backs and said good morning to the garlic and ginger man with his baskets full of ginger roots large as hands and the fruit seller with his piles of tangerines and melons waiting to be picked. Everyone was calling out for customers with croaky morning voices. The itch of dried shrimp and chilli in my nose.

charl08 Picture via unsplash by Andrei Lasc 4y
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JillR
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

Fiction often introduces me to periods in history I was unaware of in a way that I find so much more accessible than non-fiction. This story follows Wang Di who was taken from her family by the Japanese military when they invaded Singapore in WWII. Wang Di was taken to serve as a sex slave for said invaders. She was then treated with disgust and contempt when she was freed. A very sad, moving story told sparingly and with dignity.

TrishB Stacked, this sounds great, and I agree sometimes well written historical fiction can teach us a lot in a really interesting way. 4y
JillR @Trishb it‘s a good one, although told in such a way that it didn‘t really hit me until the end... 4y
Kalalalatja I felt that way about Pachinko, and this sounds great! 4y
JillR @Kalalalatja I‘ve seen some comparisons with Pachinko, which I loved 4y
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squirrelbrain
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

This novel, on the Women‘s Prize for Fiction longlist, tells the story of Wang Di, who was kidnapped in Singapore during WWII and forced to endure a Japanese rape camp.

There are two other storylines too which, unfortunately, detract from Wang Di‘s powerful story. The missing child does tell its own tale, which could have stood alone, but the inclusion of 10 year old Kevin in the current day is, I feel, a mistake. As a character we don‘t learn ⬇️

squirrelbrain enough about him and, as a 10 year old, he is too young to be a conduit for the other stories happening in the novel. It‘s a shame as I was enthralled by the first half of this book, but then the increased inclusion of Kevin diluted it somewhat. I would still recommend it though. *Trigger warnings as expected in a book with this subject matter.* 5y
Crazeedi Well written review 5y
Ashley_Nicoletto I have this one on my immediate TBR. Great review! 5y
TrishB Great review 👍🏻 5y
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Redwritinghood
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Mehso-so

#womensprize2020 #hoopla This was a traumatic story about a woman who was abducted during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in WWII for service as a “comfort woman”. A lot of the details of the families trying to survive during the occupation was sad and horrific, but the second, present day timeline seemed unnecessary to the story and just didn‘t appeal to me in the end. 3⭐️

HarryBonucci147 ❤️ 5y
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Jee_HookedOnBookz
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Mehso-so

(eARC) Switching between 2 stories & timelines - The life of Wang Di as a comfort woman who served the Japanese soldiers during WW2 & Kevin whose grandma left him a mysterious message that led him to finding his family roots. But what do these 2 individuals have in common?

I just couldn't connect to the characters, & the ending was a little unsatisfactory. Full review on my blog. ⤵️

Jee_HookedOnBookz Thank you #Netgalley & #HanoverSquarePress for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 5y
55 likes1 comment
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tammysue
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

This beautiful heart-breaking debut is multi-narrated around two timelines and centers around Japan‘s atrocities during their occupation of Singapore in WWll; and modern day when a 12yr old learns of his grandmother‘s hidden secret.
Artfully crafted and utterly gripping this novel evokes the strong resilience women needed to survive through the horrible crime of being taken and made into “comfort women.” Not for the faint at heart. 4 ☆

CoverToCoverGirl Great review! 5y
tammysue @CoverToCoverGirl Thanks CJ! :) 5y
Freespirit I agree...great review! 5y
tammysue @Freespirit Thank you Sally! :) 5y
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DebinHawaii
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

Review catch up. Moving, beautifully written novel about a tough subject-a young woman's experience as a "comfort woman"-forced into sexual slavery at a brothel at age 17 during Japan's WWII occupation of Singapore. Wang Di's past intersects with the present in 2000 Singapore & with Kevin, a 12-year-old boy who overhears his grandmother's confession. Not an easy read, but a good one. With Stir-Fried Choy Sum & Rice for my book tour review-link??

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DebinHawaii
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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My #audiosouping pick was set in Nigeria with "My Sister the Serial Killer" & my soup is a South Indian Kerala Fish Stew with Lime & Curry Leaves from a Nigel Slater (a Brit) recipe--my lunch & #soupersundays blog post. Finally I am starting this #ARC for review, set in Singapore. Feeling very global this Sunday. ?
Link to soup recipe ??is ??

Tamra So yum! 6y
Drocchio03 What a gorgeous and well composed photo! Not to mention, yum! 6y
JazzFeathers Oh, l want to try that soup! 6y
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Abailliekaras
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Pickpick

A beautiful, moving novel, set in Singapore. The story of Wang Di, a sex slave during WW2, & Kevin, who is is solving a mystery about his grandmother. I loved the clean writing - the images are so clear, characters finely drawn. Shows the plight of ‘comfort women‘ & the long-lasting effects of WW2 traumas. It‘s well-paced with action & suspense, but Lee gives her characters room to breathe. They‘re outsiders but resilient; they break your heart.

GatheringBooks sounds lovely! and one that i ^must read seeing i have been living in singapore for nearly 11 years now 6y
Abailliekaras @GatheringBooks I recommend it! 6y
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Abailliekaras
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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It‘s slippers weather and I‘m so happy. Just started this book and I‘m really liking it so far. 😊👌🏼

35 likes1 stack add
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Abailliekaras
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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It‘s slippers weather and I‘m so happy. Just started this book and I‘m really liking it so far. 😊👌🏼

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Abailliekaras
How We Disappeared | Jing-Jing Lee
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Our new episode is up! A chat with the fabulous Jo Dyer, director of Adelaide Writers‘ Week. I‘m adding How We Disappeared to my list on her recommendation. 👏🏼📚

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