When a Rooster Crows at Night
Therese Park
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2004 iUniverse
ISBN: 0595308767

A Child's Experience of the Korean War.

One night in June 1950, nine-year-old Jong-ah's rooster crows. The next morning she discovers her mother has served up the bird for breakfast soup. In Korea, a rooster crowing at night is a bad omen. Later that day Jong-ah's family hears on the radio that the Communist North has attacked the South & is on its way to her hometown of Pusan.

Jong-ah is about to witness the conflict that will devour half her country & more than a million lives, including 54,000 Americans. Blending fact, history & memories Therese Park tells the story of a girl caught in the “Forgotten War”.

In When a Rooster Crows at Night Jong-ah is just a kid, her brothers tease her, her sisters are annoying, her mother is always correcting her, & her father only lectures, when he comes home. Jong-ah wants so much more, however, the war changes it all. Suddenly her safe world evaporates. Now American GIs have arrived & driven through town. Now refugees are pouring in from the North with their strange customs & stranger stories, & agents of the CIC (Korea's CIA) come sniffing around, looking for a wayward uncle.

What I especially enjoy about When a Rooster Crows at Night are the insights into everyday life: the way they raise their children, what they think about domestic violence, reputations, respecting elders, loving family, meeting strangers. We get a glimpse of their sense of values, honor & commitment. Through Jong-ah's voice, we become a family member, & then when she is sent away for safety's sake, we dog her footsteps as she learns how to survive in an orphanage.

At first I thought When a Rooster Crows at Night was a memoir of the first two years of the Korean War as seen through the eyes of a child, & a very good one at that! It certainly could have been, because Therese Park graduated from Seoul National University's School of Music in 1966 & retired from the Kansas City Symphony in 1996.

Therese Park's first novel, A Gift of the Emperor also tells the story of a Korean girl. This time during WWII when, as a student, she is forced into military prostitution by the occupying Japanese forces.

Therese Park has a voice we need to hear. She writes eloquently & briefly, with moments of deep fear, sadness, humor & joy of a time, a people & a place dear to her heart & in so doing, opens a new & enchanting world for us.

Highly recommended! I could not put it down.
(08/01/04)

Rebecca