BLACK FLOWER

Korean author Kim stumbled upon a little-known piece of history during a conversation on a trans-Pacific flight. This history was so fascinating, he wanted to base a novel on it. This is that novel. 

In his author notes, he explains the title: “There is no such thing as a black flower; it exists only in imagination. In the same way the place that the characters in the novel hoped to go is a utopia that does not exist in reality.” He goes on to dedicate this work to the 1,033 people who made that fateful journey back in 1905. Kim has created a work that is rooted in this history. Koreans of varying background and social status facing the domination of the Japanese are enticed by Westerners into making an ocean journey to a land of greater opportunity: not the United States, but Mexico. They embark upon the crowded ship, where two people die and one is born. They endure disease and all kinds of difficulties, only to learn after their arrival that they have been tricked and sold into indentured servitude. From the broad sweep of history to insightful and convincing individual instances of self-discovery, this book develops on many levels and shines a light on issues of gender, class, religious and racial conflicts, and the ways that disparate cultures clash and sometimes meld.

Readers who remember the historical fiction of Thomas B. Costain, Zoe Oldenbourg and Anya Seton will appreciate the extensive research and empathic imagination that went into this novel.