u003cpu003eu003cbu003eThe story begins with a mother's confession...sisters permanently separated by a border during the Korean Waru003cbru003eu003c/bu003eu003cbru003eKeum Suk Gendry-Kim was an adult when her mother revealed a family secret: She had been separated from her sister during the Korean War. Its not an uncommon storythe peninsula was split across the 38th parallel, dividing one country into two. As many fled violence in the north, not everyone was able to make it south. Her mothers story inspired Gendry-Kim to begin interviewing her and other Koreans separated by the war; that research fueled a deeply resonant graphic novel.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eu003ciu003eThe Waitingu003c/iu003e is the fictional story of Gwija, told by her novelist daughter Jina. When Gwija was 17 years old, after hearing that the Japanese were seizing unmarried girls, her family married her in a hurry to a man she didn't know. Japan fell, Korea gained its independence, and the couple started a family. But peace didnt come. The young family of four fled south. On the road, while breastfeeding and changing her daughter, Gwija was separated from her husband and son. u003cbru003eu003cbru003eThen seventy years passed. Seventy years of waiting. Gwija is now an elderly woman and Jina cant stop thinking about the promise she made to help find her brother. u003cbru003eu003cbru003eExpertly translated from the Korean by the award-winning translator Janet Hong, u003ciu003eThe Waitingu003c/iu003e is the devastating followup to Gendry-Kims u003ciu003eGrassu003c/iu003e, which appeared on best of the year lists from the u003ciu003eNew York Times, The Guardian, Library Journalu003c/iu003e, and more.u003c/pu003e
