Forgotten Reflections: A War Story by Young-Im Lee

I think this is the first book I've read by a Korean writer and it turned out to be a good read. It requires a bit of patience and a little knowledge about Korea and the civil war would help. So if you have and do, this is a 5 star.
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This is quite an epic and complex book, told from several perspectives and time lines. It is also a beautifully written book about the Korean civil war and the Korea of today. Its prose is quite poetic at times, that and the to me unfamiliar Korean names and words, took a bit of time to get used to. But by part two I started to get really into the story and was hooked to the very end. The main character is Iseul, we learn about her past and the men that play a role in her life. Her granddaughter realises when Iseul develops Alzheimer’s that she knows very little about her. When Iseul mumbles a name, her granddaughter sets out on a quest to find out about the man on her grandmothers lips. Jia, the granddaughter is a young girl struggling with the pressures of modern Korean life. Through her we hear the writer’s voice, who has some reservations about what direction South Korea is heading. It is an interesting insight into the Korea of now. I was however more intrigued with the story set in the 1950’s when brother was fighting brother. Also demonstrated in this book, that not even a son could fully trust his father when war raged. There are many beautiful snippets, either real or fictional, that war can also bring the best out of people and that love can be a very powerful motivator. An epic well thought out book that I can recommend to anyone interested in post war politics, history and who likes a good love story.