In this poignant and harrowing account of Lee Ok-Sun--a former WWII "comfort woman"--Gendry-Kim protests and rolls back decades of efforts by the Japanese government to obscure the role these women played as sexual slaves to the Japanese military. With her delicate brushstrokes, the artist transports us from Ok-Sun's fraught youth to her post-war fight for justice and recognition, and her art is in constant conversation with her material--both rendered more powerful by her eschewing graphic depictions of wartime horror in favor of simple distillations of larger emotions and moments. The author inserts herself in the story as well, providing insight via reflections on her work that illuminate both individual traumas and one of the darkest parts of recent history. What results is a moving, important piece of work that will stay with you for a long time.
