The Spirit of the Dragon

By: William Andrews

Narrated by: Janet Song, Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

From the bestselling author of Daughters of the Dragon comes an epic novel of a star-crossed couple who must defy tradition, war, and prejudice to keep their love alive.

At the urging of a Los Angeles detective, international rights lawyer Anna Carlson assists in a murder investigation. It’s a personal request from Suk-bo Yi, a ninety-nine-year-old woman questioned in a mysterious death at a Koreatown nursing home. A stranger to Anna, Suk-bo has a tale to tell. For reasons of her own, she’s chosen Anna - only Anna - to hear it...

Suk-bo’s story begins in 1937, when the Japanese occupying Korea force her to marry one of their own, named Hisashi. In spite of their differences, they fall madly in love, pitting them against two violently opposing cultures. When Hisashi joins the Japanese Imperial Army and disappears, Suk-bo embarks on a quest through years of war, bigotry, and poverty to find him.

But Suk-bo’s unfolding history reveals more than Anna can imagine: an heirloom comb bearing an intricately carved two-headed dragon binding her to Suk-bo’s past. Soon Anna will discover her own legacy at the heart of Suk-bo’s epic love story.

©2019 William Andrews (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

History of Korean people in story form

page one captures my attention. It brought me into the story and I enjoyed the story line while I learned about the history of Korea. Now on to read the other two in this series. I highly recommend.

Loved It

A great survey of Korean history interwoven into an even greater love story! Highly recommended!

A Timeless Story of Loss and Love

The beautiful tale of love, war, suffering, and loss. This story encompasses 80 years in the life of a Korean woman who married a Japanese man during the occupation of Korean by Japan and the hardships endured by both. The narration was excellent as was the book.

Enjoyable and kept my interest

I loved this story with the history and very good descriptions of situations, scenery, and emotions. The accent in the narration was just enough to enhance the story but still understand what was being said. I will recommend it to others. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Excellent Book

Loved the history and characters and the story line. Please offer more like this.

must read

One of the best books I have listened. A true love story and history about how to love.

Very Informative

A tragic love story. Very informative about the atrocities committed by the Japanese during WWII. A good listen.

Obsessed

A must read for all fans of human rights and world history. Such a beautiful courageous story.

Sad but Necessary

Well done sad but necessary historical fiction. The whole 3 books are very eye opening. I will always regard Korea differently and vow to stand up to racism.

As Good As Daughters of the Dragon

This is a true sequel to Daughters of the Dragon and reveals much more Korean history. I’m embarrassed to say that I knew next to nothing about Korea till I stumbled on Daughters a few years ago. The book opened my eyes to the modern history of Korea and was richly entertaining at the same time. This book is just as stunning.

It’s a Romeo and Juliet romance set within many decades of change inside Korea, China and the US. Of course the Dragon Comb is the magic token that weaves the story together and ties it to the previous book. It never fails to amaze me how Andrews can tell a complex story using very simple English and yet connect multiple crucial events and figures in history with his characters without losing the realism. His characters are so well-developed that it’s difficult to believe they aren’t real people. I thought I would know what this book was about and did not expect surprises. I was wrong. There were big surprises. And even my father, a devoted reader and 87 year old Cold War veteran, did not know about Unit 731.

The one slight irritant is the narration. I usually like Emily Woo Zeller (or was that Janet Song?) but this time her attempt to replicate a Korean speech pattern was grating. It was too slow, too exaggerated and unintentionally a bit of a spoof.

The content of this book is a super A plus. Touching bittersweet romance, dramatic saga of Korea and a lot of education (for me) in a very entertaining and engrossing tale. This master storyteller should keep writing. And writing.