Can’t I Leave? Novel

The lives and identities of two women intertwine during World War II and the Korean War to reveal the harsh truths of class division in the early 20th century. “Can’t I Leave?” traces the life of a Korean nobleman’s daughter and her servant in the early 20th century. When the daughter’s fiancé is arrested as a Korean independence activist and she becomes embroiled in the investigation, she is quickly forced to marry one of her father’s Japanese employees and travel to the United States. Meanwhile, her servant is sent to become a comfort woman for the Imperial Japanese Army. Korean comfort women were exploited in the most horrific ways by the Imperial Japanese Army.

This is followed by years of hardship, survival attempts, and even happiness. In the aftermath of World War II, the two women return home, where they must forget the complex lives they have lived, in an attempt to reclaim their identities and find their place in independent Korea. “Can’t I Leave?” is an exceptional historical work full of twists and surprises, joys and pains, shedding light on the history of a nation; its pains and struggles. Yet, at the same time, it succeeds in focusing on the lives of its main character.

author name :

Li Guom Li