"A masterpiece" Scott Saalman, author of Vietnam War Love Story
By candlelight, an elderly Korean woman relives her years upended by the Korean War, finding love in the rubble, and her acclimation to 1960 America.
Recently widowed Honey, nee Hanhee, is preparing to move out of her Arlington home when the Virginia earthquake of 2011 hits. Subtly, something in her cracks. Four days later, Hurricane Irene strikes, evoking monsoon-swept streets of yore. With the power out, Honey's life of a half-century ago cinematically comes to light: Her months as an unlikely prostitute at Madam Cho's; her secret revolt against her dead parents whose love was in question; a mysterious monk's prediction; her great, sassy Korean friend Kissuni Kim who dreamed of nothing more than 'love-mak-ing'; her kindly American neighbor Emma Church who would guide her to independence; and, above all, her lingering love for her first husband Joe Lipton, a journalist who brought Honey to America, only to desert her.
Frances Park states that writing Blue Rice was like living a dream from scenes her late mother shared with her, as well as her watercolor-like remembrances of growing up in white America as a small child of war-torn Korean parents.
"Frances Park is one of the finest writers of our time. Her attention to detail and respect for historical fact are unparalleled. You don't have to be Korean to love this book." Maury Z. Levy, national award-winning writer and journalist
"Author Frances Park cements her status as among the best in Blue Rice, a rare, sumptuous novel whose heroine will break your heart." R.A. Cramblitt, author of Probably Lives in Tahiti and Like Printing Money
"Frances Park has penned the perfect immigrant story... an American adventure filled with humor, history, heartache, and self-discovery. Blue Rice is a masterpiece." Scott Saalman, author of Vietnam War Love Story and Quietly Making Noise
"Frances Park belongs among the best writers in America today... Blue Rice is a story that will not let you go. It's a page-turner but not so fast: the prose's phrasing is often so exquisite you'll stop and repeat passages aloud multiple times." Wayne Coster Cooper, WritersInTheSpirit
"Meet Honey Song, a prostitute in Korea in 1957, and Joe Lipton, the American English teacher who married her. Blue Rice will make you smile and cry, but most of all it will make you stay awake all night reading." Bill Adler, author of Outwitting Squirrels and Boys and Their Toys
"In this moving story of survival, a young woman forced to work in a Seoul brothel in post-war Korea eventually marries an American journalist only to experience the culture shock of a new life in the United States when he grows distant." Rick Cooper, lyricist and author of For the Record
"A sublimely detailed tale of resilience and chosen family. I will never forget Hanhee Song." Megan Wessell, book blogger, A Bookish Affair