Rosa Kwon Easton is the author of the new novel White Mulberry. Also a lawyer, she lives in Southern California.
Q: What inspired you to write White Mulberry, and how did you create your character Miyoung?
A: I found some old, faded documents on my father’s desk and learned that they were my Korean grandmother’s old Japanese nursing and midwife certificates, dating back to the late 1930s.
I knew my grandmother had lived in Japan and my father was born there, but what I didn’t know was that my grandmother was a single mother working as a nurse and raising a son alone in an unwelcoming country.
I yearned for stories of strong, female heroines like my grandmother but couldn’t find many growing up, or even as an adult. That’s when I knew I had to write White Mulberry.
My interviews with my grandmother formed the basis of my character Miyoung. Even though my grandmother was reluctant to share her story at first because it was painful, she eventually opened up, and Miyoung was born.
My grandmother led a remarkable life of resistance and resilience, and I crafted a character that I believe was true to her spirit and filled gaps in her history with my imagination.
I was able to write about Miyoung’s journey to a new country at a young age because I experienced similar struggles growing up as an ethnic minority in the US. I hope readers will be inspired by Miyoung’s courage to be herself in a society that didn’t readily accept her, just as I was.
Q: How did you research the novel, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: I spoke to many of my Korean relatives who lived in Japan while I was studying abroad in Kyoto in college, and subsequently during family visits. I read books on Koreans in Japan in graduate school while earning my master’s degree in international affairs.
In the last 10 years while I was writing this novel, I dove into history books, scholarly articles, memoirs, and fictional accounts of how Koreans lived in Japan during the colonial period. These resources deeply informed my research for this novel.
What surprised me the most about my research was that discrimination against Koreans in Japan is still prevalent today. On a recent trip to Kyoto, one of my second cousins recalled that she couldn’t gain employment at a clothing manufacturing company because she was Korean.
She is a third generation Korean born in Japan, but regardless of whether they keep their Korean names, pass as Japanese, or intermarry with Japanese, many Korean Japanese continue to live as outsiders in the only country they know and the land they call home. It’s important that people are aware that this problem still exists.
Q: The writer Lisa See said of the book, “A beautiful and deeply researched novel…How does a woman protect her family, honor her heritage, and save herself? If you loved Pachinko, you’ll love White Mulberry.” What do you think of that assessment?
A: I think Lisa See’s assessment is correct because White Mulberry is similar to Pachinko in that it explores the Korean ethnic minority living in Japan and their struggles for acceptance over decades of oppression.
However, I believe my novel is different in a few crucial ways. First, it closely follows the point of view of the spirited heroine who forges her own path when forced to make the impossible choice of saving herself or leaving her child.
My novel is also more a coming-of-age story of a Korean girl who is forced to conceal her true identity and "pass" as Japanese, while Pachinko is a multi-generational novel. White Mulberry is also inspired by my Korean grandmother’s life, so it’s based on a true story.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: My hope is that readers feel empowered to trust who they are and claim their unique place in the world. Miyoung’s courage to save her family from racial injustice despite grave danger is timely and inspiring given that our gender, race and identity are still being challenged today.
I hope this book inspires hope that tolerance, perseverance, and dreams can take root in the roughest soil and blossom in the toughest conditions, just like a beautiful mulberry tree.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: My second book is a sequel, but also a stand-alone novel. Red Seal continues the story of White Mulberry as Miyoung, a 26-year-old widow and single mother, and Ko-chan, her 6-year-old son, return to Korea and strive to claim their true selves, symbolized by a name seal, against the backdrop of WWII, the Korean War and eventually immigration to America.
Also inspired by a true story and told through alternating chapters in Miyoung and Ko-chan’s voices, it spans 30 years of Asian and American history and explores themes of family, identity, separation, and belonging.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I share a Maltipoo (Maltese/Poodle mix) named Joey with my brother, who lives about an hour away. When we go on vacation, we leave Joey with my brother’s family, and vice versa. Joey loves his two families and is so happy every time he sees us. Dogs are amazing, loyal creatures, and the best writing companions.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
