Review
I read White Mulberry and spoke with the author about how she developed her story when it first released. That character’s journey and conversation stuck with me. She said she was working on a story about what happens to the characters after escaping Japan and her late husband’s family. When Red Seal was announced, I crossed my fingers that I would get the opportunity to read and continue our conversation from the first book. I can confidently say that the wait was worth it.
Read my book review on White Mulberry here.
Listen to the author interview with Rosa Kwon Easton on the Cantina Book Club Podcast.
Rosa’s ideas for the stories came from discovering her own family’s background as immigrants in war-torn countries. And her connection to the material shines through the page. Readers can certainly read Red Seal without having read White Mulberry. But I encourage them to not deprive themselves of Miyoung’s journey before meeting her on the boat with her six-year-old son. Miyoung has that same tenacity and determination, but now she has her child to fight for while trying to survive.
I appreciated that Red Seal spans decades, and we get to watch Ko-chan grow from child to adult. The author expertly captures his worldview in his elementary years. He doesn’t fully understand why they are traveling so much and why he can’t return to see his family in Japan. As he gets older, his frustration grows. But eventually, the author shows his growth and maturity. He begins to understand the reality of what his mother endured and sacrificed for him.
The biggest takeaway that readers will get from Red Seal is the importance of cultural identity. The author emphasizes the significance of a name. And how that significance might change depending on what country you’re in or what war is being fought. If anything, the characters’ journey reiterated my own appreciation for how lucky I am to have been born when and where I was.
The writing style and pacing might take getting used to. But White Mulberry and Red Seal will change the way you see your life and those of immigrants or civilians in wore-torn countries.
Rosa Kwon Easton returns to the Cantina Book Club Podcast to talk about conversations with her grandfather and continuing Ko-chan’s story. Keep an ear out for the episode and preorder Red Seal, available October 6.
Book
In 1943 Japan, the Pacific War rages on. Miyoung, a Korean-born single mother and nurse, defies an order to serve in the Imperial Japanese Army and instead flees with her six-year-old son, Ko-chan, who is leaving everything familiar behind, including the grandparents he loves. Miyoung hopes Ko-chan will finally claim his heritage and that she can reclaim her own as well.
Miyoung promises her anxious son an adventure. Their life-changing trek to Miyoung’s homeland takes them first to Japan-occupied Manchuria, where Miyoung’s brother offers shelter and Ko-chan, coming of age, begins to question where his future lies. When Japan’s defeat in World War II forces them to escape again, it triggers a decades-long odyssey of survival, sacrifice, and—for the generations to follow—a search for identity across three nations.
A powerful tribute to the endurance of family bonds, Red Seal explores the struggle to define oneself when torn between multiple worlds and by cultural upheaval, and the resilience it takes to find a place to call home.
