Comfort Woman
By Nora Okja Keller
1998, Penguin Publishing Group
Comfort Woman by Nora Okja Keller is a haunting and lyrical novel that explores the intergenerational trauma of Korean women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. The story is told through the alternating voices of Akiko, a former “comfort woman” who now lives in Hawaii, and her American-born daughter, Beccah. Akiko, tormented by visions and memories of her brutal past, communicates with spirits and slips between reality and a dreamlike world. Beccah, who has grown up in confusion and isolation due to her mother’s erratic behavior, begins to uncover the truth behind her mother’s suffering after Akiko’s death.
Through Beccah’s gradual understanding of her mother’s history, Keller explores themes of silence, memory, and healing. The novel portrays how the trauma of wartime violence reverberates through generations, even when left unspoken. Comfort Woman is not only a story of survival and resilience but also a testament to the power of bearing witness — how reclaiming one’s voice can begin the process of personal and collective healing.
About the Author:
Nora Okja Keller is a Korean American author whose fiction explores themes of multigenerational trauma, memory, and identity shaped by war and colonialism. She earned a B.A. in psychology and English from the University of Hawaii and later completed an M.A. and Ph.D. in American Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Comfort Woman is her debut novel and has received critical acclaim for its lyrical prose and emotional depth, winning the American Book Award and Elliot Cades Award. Keller’s work draws on her upbringing in Hawaii and her Korean heritage, particularly her relationship with her mother and early exposure to Asian American literature. Keller was inspired by the testimony of a former comfort woman at a 1993 human rights symposium.