House of the Winds (Penguin Readers Guide Inside) Book

House of the Winds is a stirring portrait of a family whose lives have been deeply affected by the Japanese occupation and the Korean War. In episodic and dreamlike prose, the narrator shares stories and memories of those around her: her feckless, mostly absent father; her lonely, loving mother who tells her daughter that butterflies are the souls of napping children; her gossiping neighbors; and the ghosts of weeping women that haunt their house.This extraordinary novel allows us to see how Korean women "lived in the folds of history . . . laughing, wailing, spirit-cajoling, poetry-writing, tear-hiding, bosom-bracing, scheming, fire-breathing." Vivid, sensuous, permeated by beautiful images and by the mysteries that define a child's world, House of the Winds is a moving tale of awakening."A lovely, lyrical coming-of-age tale graced by judiciously blended notes of humor and melancholy. A superlative debut." --Kirkus ReviewsRead More