How We Disappeared - Jing Jing Lee

Wow. What a beautiful, heartbreaking and stunningly written novel. This was longlisted for the Women’s Prize and in my opinion should definitely have been shortlisted - Lee’s depiction of the horrors of the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WWII is educational, stomach-turning and haunting.

The dual narratives of Wang Di, who was kidnapped in 1942 and sent to the ‘black and white house’ to become a ‘comfort woman’ or prostitute for Japanese soldiers at the age of 17; intertwined with Kevin, a twelve year old boy in the year 2000 who records the mumbled confession of his grandmother on her death bed and begins a search for their family’s true history, are beautifully connected.

The novel jumps back in time to document Wang Di’s horrific experiences in the brothel during the war, as well as her older self who is recently bereft of her husband and is searching for her own truth amongst letters and documents he left behind. Both protagonists tell equally gripping and moving stories, and the way Lee weaves them together at the novel’s climax is so gripping, I just couldn’t put it down.

The writing style is another stand-out feature of this book, with the most beautiful and authentic language used throughout to describe even the most mundane objects and actions, somehow making them beautiful. A particular image which stood out to me was the depiction of Wang Di’s mother crying for the loss of a child: ‘she closed her eyes and two heavy drops of tears slid down the side of her face, pooled in the seashell of her ear’. Lee’s writing, in many moments similar to this one, really ignites deep emotion inside you and haunting images like this stay with you after finishing the book. 

Finally, I loved the challenge this novel presented - some hard-hitting content, a non-linear chronology and the slow piecing together of decades of trauma, devastation and loss which culminated in an absolutely beautiful story. Wonderful.