April Book Club - How We Disappeared by Jing Jing Lee
Join us for a meaningful and moving session this April as we read How We Disappeared by Jing Jing Lee, a powerful novel that explores the legacy of war, the trauma of comfort women, and the silence that lingers across generations.
Following our book discussion, we’re honoured to host a teach-in and collage-making led by Empty Chair Collective, a feminist group dedicated to decolonisation and resisting the erasure of collective memory on colonial and sexualised violence in Asia.
Date & Time: Saturday 12 April, 11am-2pm
Location: Shepherd’s Bush
Format:
11am-12pm Readers Discussion
Break
12:15pm-2pm Teach-in & Collage-Making
About the book
Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child.
In a neighbouring village, seventeen-year-old Wang Di is strapped into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel where she is forced into sexual slavery as a "comfort woman." After sixty years of silence, what she saw and experienced still haunts her.
In the year 2000, twelve-year-old Kevin is sitting beside his ailing grandmother when he overhears a mumbled confession. He sets out to discover the truth, wherever it might lead, setting in motion a chain of events he never could have foreseen.
Weaving together two time lines and two very big secrets, this stunning debut opens a window on a little-known period of history, revealing the strength and bravery shown by numerous women in the face of terrible cruelty. Drawing in part on her family's experiences, Jing-Jing Lee has crafted a profoundly moving, unforgettable novel about human resilience, the bonds of family and the courage it takes to confront the past. (Goodreads)
Available from Waterstones at £9.99. 352 pages.
🎟️ Tickets are non-refundable and cover facilitation and platform costs. Please consider before purchasing.
🤐 Spoiler alert: We encourage you to read the book before attending!
We’re committed to making the book club inclusive! If you need assistance with the ticket fee, email us at eseabookclub@gmail.com. PDF copies are available (ticket purchase required first).
Empty Chair Collective
A transnational coalition of anti-imperialist feminists and abolitionists who wish to work together to decolonise our collective memory*, bearing witness to marginalised histories and bodies for freedom and liberation.
*decolonising the collective memory: moving away from institutions and governments to resist colonial language and warped documentations of our histories, throughout the process of memory-making and reconstructing remembrance.