Editorial Content for Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
In STARRY FIELD, Margaret Juhae Lee offers an international yet intimate account of a family member whose life would have been lost in a sea of forgetfulness were it not for her diligent dedication to discovering the truth --- a truth that brings honor and hope to those remaining.
The daughter of Korean immigrants, a young Lee never felt that she was where she wanted or needed to be. She always tried to explain to schoolmates that she was American, while their perception of her features told them she must be from somewhere else. Added to this sense of discomfiture was the fact that her father, Eun Sul, knew little of his own father, Lee Chul Ha. Her grandmother, Halmoni, refused to speak of him, leaving a blank space in her comprehension of her heritage.
"STARRY FIELD will attract a wide readership --- those who feel deprived of a true home and may be inspired like Lee to seek emotional refuge, and those who will admire and share the tale of one woman’s courageous sentiments and her willingness to act upon them."
Despite these deficits, Lee proved to be an achiever, completing higher education with honors and becoming a noted journalist. Her natural bent to find facts led her to partner with her father in an investigation into the life of her grandfather and the mystery surrounding his passing in a Japanese prison at a time when Korea was occupied by that brutal dictatorship.
What they learn will change their perspective, even that of Halmoni, who had been told that her young husband died as a traitor. Facts found in the few official papers combined with family lore revealed a very different reason for his death, which has resulted in fresh recognition by Lee and her family, as well as by the current Korean government. Interwoven into her journey of discovery is Lee’s personal journaling, putting her in vivid focus as a student, a romantic and a mother.
Lee, the former editor of The Nation, is a highly regarded wordsmith who has received many distinguished awards. Here she utilizes her talents in myriad ways to show the child within longing for a spiritual and emotional home, and the sharp-minded young woman with an ever-growing need to learn more about her family’s history. In so doing, she connects far more deeply with her birth family. Her work evinced in Halmoni the urge to revitalize her mothering skills, rewarded her father with knowledge of a father whom he could honor as a hero, and gifted to herself --- the self-proclaimed “girl who was born in a country where she didn’t feel at home” --- a sense of genuine pride and security that she can pass on to her children.
STARRY FIELD will attract a wide readership --- those who feel deprived of a true home and may be inspired like Lee to seek emotional refuge, and those who will admire and share the tale of one woman’s courageous sentiments and her willingness to act upon them.
Teaser
As a young girl growing up in Houston, Margaret Juhae Lee never heard about her grandfather, Lee Chul Ha. His history was lost in early 20th-century Korea and guarded by Margaret’s grandmother, who Chul Ha left widowed in 1936 with two young sons. To his surviving family, Lee Chul Ha was a criminal, and his granddaughter was determined to figure out why. STARRY FIELD chronicles Chul Ha’s untold story. Combining investigative journalism, oral history and archival research, Margaret reveals the truth about the grandfather she never knew. But reclaiming his legacy, in the end, isn’t what Margaret finds the most valuable. It is through the series of three long-form interviews with her grandmother that Margaret finally finds a sense of recognition she’s been missing her entire life.
Promo
As a young girl growing up in Houston, Margaret Juhae Lee never heard about her grandfather, Lee Chul Ha. His history was lost in early 20th-century Korea and guarded by Margaret’s grandmother, who Chul Ha left widowed in 1936 with two young sons. To his surviving family, Lee Chul Ha was a criminal, and his granddaughter was determined to figure out why. STARRY FIELD chronicles Chul Ha’s untold story. Combining investigative journalism, oral history and archival research, Margaret reveals the truth about the grandfather she never knew. But reclaiming his legacy, in the end, isn’t what Margaret finds the most valuable. It is through the series of three long-form interviews with her grandmother that Margaret finally finds a sense of recognition she’s been missing her entire life.
About the Book
A poignant memoir for readers who love PACHINKO and THE RETURN by journalist Margaret Juhae Lee, who sets out on a search for her family’s history lost to the darkness of Korea’s colonial decades and contends with the shockwaves of violence that followed them over four generations and across continents.
As a young girl growing up in Houston, Margaret Juhae Lee never heard about her grandfather, Lee Chul Ha. His history was lost in early 20th-century Korea and guarded by Margaret’s grandmother, who Chul Ha left widowed in 1936 with two young sons. To his surviving family, Lee Chul Ha was a criminal, and his granddaughter was determined to figure out why.
STARRY FIELD chronicles Chul Ha’s untold story. Combining investigative journalism, oral history and archival research, Margaret reveals the truth about the grandfather she never knew. What she found is that Lee Chul Ha was not a source of shame; he was a student revolutionary imprisoned in 1929 for protesting the Japanese government’s colonization of Korea. He was a hero --- and eventually honored as a Patriot of South Korea almost 60 years after his death.
But reclaiming her grandfather’s legacy, in the end, isn’t what Margaret finds the most valuable. It is through the series of three long-form interviews with her grandmother that Margaret finally finds a sense of recognition she’s been missing her entire life. A story of healing old wounds and the reputation of an extraordinary young man, STARRY FIELD bridges the tales of two women, generations and oceans apart, who share the desire to build family in someplace called home.
STARRY FIELD weaves together the stories of Margaret’s family against the backdrop of Korea’s tumultuous modern history, with a powerful question at its heart. Can we ever separate ourselves from our family’s past --- and if the answer is yes, should we?
