8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster, by Mirinae Lee, Virago, 2023
Each chapter is a 'Life' in the story of a remarkable Korean woman, Mook Miran, as told by her 'obituarist'. With a variety of characters and viewpoints, not in chronological order, the structure and coherence of the book is maintained by the history of Korea itself, beginning under Japanese occupation before 1945, the divided nation - North and South Korea, with the final 'Life', set in chapter 8, in the Golden Sunset Retirement Home. There are harrowing details, especially in the chapters on young Korean comfort women; throughout the whole book in fact there is intrigue, poverty, the eating of earth, espionage, deceit and cruelty; above all, however, there is the humanity, resilience and humour of Mook herself in different incarnations. This is an excellent book that drew me gradually. For anyone interested in Korea and Korean culture and people, this is an enchanting, disturbing book.
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