![]() ![]() ![]() As in Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter and Suzanne Fisher Staple's Haveli (both 1993), the textures of daily life are skillfully explored, but Junehee is more of an observer than an actor, and the rest of the cast, aside from her mother, is either unrelievedly passive- aggressive (the men) or narrow and manipulative (the women). After Jungmin takes the family on vacation, then abandons them for two days, and Pyungsoo, to whom Junehee has grown attached, is spirited away to adoptive parents, Junehee's strong, competent mother disappears, leaving valedictory letters to Jungmin and each of her daughters. Her father, Jungmin, even when not on a business trip, is seldom home when he is, he's either harsh and arbitrary, or tearfully proclaiming himself a poor man and father. His presence causes the already strained relations between Junehee's parents, who have four daughters but no surviving sons, to deteriorate further. When Grandmother brings home Pyungsoo, a boy orphaned by a mudslide, only Junehee, 11, and her mother don't treat him like a stray animal, or despise him outright. Changma, the Korean rainy season, brings increasing stress to a troubled family in this long, muted tale of strong women and weak men. ![]()
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