How We Disappeared: LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020

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Wang Di determines to find out more about what befell The Old One in the war and what lead to his regular absences on a fixed day each February – something she is sure relates to the wartime fate of his first wife and wider family. Kevin’s grandmother gives what appears to be a garbled confession (mistaking Kevin for his father) – and which seems to relate to her finding of him as a baby.

Also in 2000, a 12-year-old boy named Kevin has just lost his grandmother, with whom he was very close. Just before she died, she discloses a long-held secret, one that will change his family’s life. The reader knows that the two stories will come together, but they do so in an unpredictable way.A heartbreaking but hopeful story about memory, trauma and ultimately love, 'How We Disappeared' explores the impact of the Japanese invasion of Singapore on the local people, in particular on the hellishly misnamed 'Comfort Women.'"-- New York Times HOW WE DISAPPEARED isn't a bad book by any means. I found it flawed, but there were parts of it I enjoyed. It doesn't shy away from the atrocities of war, and the casualties of the war in the form of women who were taken against their will and ill-used by soldiers who saw them as objects ripe for play or abuse. I also liked how language played a somewhat central role, and how the meanings of certain characters and words were mentioned. I'm currently learning Chinese right now, and it was really exciting to recognize certain romanticized words, like di, and even some of the characters. This imbued the novel with a relevance for me that went far deeper than the surface storyline. Li-Young Lee “I’ll tell my human tale, tell it against the current of that vaster, that inhuman telling” It depends on how you define ‘openly discussed,’” she says. “The general population is very much aware of the issue; ask any Singaporean if they think that local women were taken during the Japanese occupation and, young or old, they would likely say ‘yes.’ In the 90s, there was even a Chinese TV drama serial set during the Occupation and one of the strands showed how young local girls were taken by the Japanese troops to be used as sex slaves. The government, however, is reluctant to touch upon this issue. In the 1960s, Singapore received 25 million Singapore dollars from Japan as a loan. The Singaporean government tried to have the amount officially named as a ‘blood debt,’ but Japan refused. In the end, the two countries called it a ‘bilateral agreement’ instead.

Mi rendo conto di poter sembrare una brutta persona nel dire questo. Voglio dire, leggi un libro che parla di uno stupro continuo, e critichi il libro a livello emotivo? Lo so. Eppure a parte un unico momento in cui ho fatto gli occhi lucidi, non mi sono mai emozionata, quando invece ero convinta avrei passato tutto il tempo a piangere. I timed my reading to co-incide with what should (but for the coronavirus) have been a business trip to Singapore – a country I visit around twice a year for a few days, my visits confined to the business district, luxury hotels and ex-pat haunts; far removed in time and place from the world portrayed here.Jing-Jing Lee was inspired by her family’s experiences to write this story. How We Disappeared is a tribute to strong women displaying resilience of spirit even in the most dire of times. It’s about family and seeking the truth. While this was occasionally difficult to read due to the subject matter, the inspiration I drew from these characters and their courage kept it from being overwhelmingly dark. They didn’t bother naming the girl for a few weeks, but when they did, they named her Wang Di—to hope for a brother.” Era un’adolescente quando fu strappata alla sua famiglia per diventare una “comfort woman”, una delle tante donne che soddisfacevano i bisogni dei militari giapponesi. There are some touching scenes between Kevin and Wang Di in this part but what really rescues the book is a moving closing chapter – which mirrors the book’s opening in its set of three possible origin stories, while adding the level of ambiguity which I think the book had largely missed until then. The narrative switches between Wang Di during the War , Wang-Di ‘s present life and Kevin and his quest for answers. The story continues in the present day when Kevin and Wang Di’s worlds converge and the revelations that are unearthed unravel a connection long thought to be lost which enable Wang Di and Kevin’s family to reconcile with their past and present traumas.