Dear Reader: A Separation Felt Through Generations

LitUp Author Bora Reed debuts with a deeply moving look into the cost of war for a family separated in 1950s Korea.

Dear Reader,

When I was a young child growing up in Seoul, South Korea, we used to sing a song: “Our hope is for reunification / even in our dreams, we long for reunification.”

This was the 1970s, and Korea was still recovering from the war that split it into North and South. For my family, that division was personal. My grandfather was separated from our family during the course of the fighting, never to be found. Though this all took place before I was born, being told about that profound loss is one of my earliest memories.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the subject of my novel is the Korean War—and the ways in which families torn asunder look for ways to be, if not whole again, at least strengthened. Told through the eyes of Oksoon and Junho—two young people torn from their respective homes and fighting to survive—it honors the courage and heartbreak of millions of families still separated because of the war.

I hope this story opens a window into a history and that it personalizes a global conflict—that in war there are families who persevere, play baduk to pass the time, add chili to a bowl of noodles to give it depth, carry each other literally and figuratively to survive another day. Though the story begins in war, I see it as a testament to endurance, love, and the ways we keep searching for one another across divides.

Thank you for reading.
Sincerely,
Bora Lee Reed