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Can't I Go Instead
- Narrated by: Michelle H. Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
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Can't I Go Instead
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Publisher's Summary
Can’t I Go Instead follows the lives of the daughter of a Korean nobleman and her maidservant in the early 20th-century. When the daughter’s suitor is arrested as a Korean Independence activist, and she is implicated during the investigation, she is quickly forced into marriage to one of her father’s Japanese employees and shipped off to the United States. At the same time, her maidservant is sent in her mistress’s place to be a comfort woman to the Japanese Imperial army.
Years of hardship, survival and even happiness follow. In the aftermath of WWII, the women make their way home, where they must reckon with the tangled lives they’ve led, in an attempt to reclaim their identities, and find their places in an independent Korea.
Critic Reviews
What listeners say about Can't I Go Instead
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 01-04-2024
Fact-(fic)tion that I couldn't put down
I had only started listening after attending a book club introducing this book and learnt that it was marketed as young adult fiction in South Korea, in addition to also hearing that addressing one's father as "Appa" is not something that would have been used yet.
The story depicted the state of Korea in WW II that I felt was consistent with other media I had consumed from the same period of world history.
Class, status, racism and power intertwine together into a story that leaves you attached to the characters; anxious for them one minute, some relief the next. However, parts like the women's brigade have been sanitised, supposedly as it was originally intended for a young adult audience.
Chaeryeong and Sunam, different in class but both eager and hungry to carve out their fate, demonstrated the strength of womanhood that had me intrigued to read on.
Overall a good read and stellar narration! I docked a star as the last chapter felt rushed.
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