Fox Girl
by Nora Okja Keller
Viking/$24.95
Nora Okja Keller's follow-up to her American Book Award-winning Comfort Women delves into the darker side of human nature and the complex relationship between family and culture. Fox Girl tells the story of the children of American GIs in Korea after the Korean War and doesn't hold back on the dismal details.
The book's main character, Hyun Jin, begins life as a child of relative privilege but soon sets out on a difficult journey to discover her true self. Disowned by her parents, Hyun Jin must rely on childhood friends — child prostitute Sookie, whose instincts for survival have no rival, and the young pimp Lobetto who, for all of his street savvy, can't stop dreaming of the American father who promised to send for him. Through these characters, Fox Girl examines how far one can sink in the quest for survival and how high one can rise in the quest for something pure.
Like her childhood friend, Hyun Jin eventually turns to "honeymooning" with American GIs for money but she never gives up the best part of herself — the part that hopes. She cares for a child that isn't hers and does whatever is necessary to spare the child from the life that she lives.
Descriptions of Korea's "America Town," where prostitutes hope to snag an American husband who will free them from their miserable existence, offer a glimpse into the cruelty that's perpetuated on a poor culture when the richest nation in the world takes up residence in their midst. Still, the Koreans covet all things American even as American soldiers rape their children and use their women as sex toys.
Portraying the brutality of the Americans can seem like America-bashing but in Keller's hands the complexity of the issue is illuminated. There are Korean characters who despise the America Town prostitutes and eschew all things Yankee, as well as those that think that an American label can turn trash to treasure. Keller's honesty makes the book uncomfortable to read, but it's also what makes it worthwhile.
—Rochelle Renford
This article appears in May 15-21, 2002.