The Mama Travels

If I Had Your Face-A Review

I’ve always been partial to Asian voices in literature and I am always excited to see one that reaches mainstream success. “If I Had Your Face” was well received and well reviewed by many newspapers and magazines. The Washington Post hails it as “powerful and provocative rendering of contemporary Korean society” while The Guardian observes that Frances Cha’s writing is “gripping, as well as grisly”.

The tales of Korean women in this book revolve around the obsession with looks and beauty in a society where women struggle in the uphill climb to pull themselves out of their lot in life. Orphaned or abandoned by their poverty-stricken parents, the ladies in the book have the odds stacked against them where they either end up being “salon girls” (a.k.a. escorts a.k.a. prostitutes) or they have to contend with low-paying jobs knowing that there is always someone else waiting in the wings to take over for them. It also talks of how pregnancy continues to be viewed as a detriment in such a competitive secular society. It is a story that deals with the seedy underbelly of that society that continues to objectify women. The latter do what they can to “play the game” and hedge their bets in the hopes of elevating their economic status. At the end though, it seems the women always lose…. and the only way to win is to not play their game.

The book hits it right where it needs hitting–and this is not just something exclusive to South Korea. In the Philippines, you will see market shelves covered with skin whitening products as fair skin is considered to make women more attractive. It is also a society where young girls from the provinces who arrive in Manila in the hopes of a better life end up “walking the streets”. The objectification of women is a cycle that unfortunately continues for as long as there are exploiters, and the temptation of riches and money continue to bedazzle those who yearn for it. Even developed countries like Japan continue to value male employees over hiring female ones.

This book is not the typical story penned by most Asian authors as it does not include commentaries on ethnic foods, ingredients , and elaborate discussions on food preparations. The only food mentioned in If I Had Your Face is the much-needed hangover stew for the girls after a night of drinking with their gentlemen patrons. Don’t get me wrong! I don’t mind foodie-type inserts in novels, but this was a welcome change from the usual recipe for Asian novelists.

This is a book that talks mainly of life’s cruel realities rather than the romanticism and enchantment of a foreign culture. After all, what Ara, Miho, Kyuri, and Wonna went through is still being experienced by many women today. It is a story that is not limited to Asian countries, but in any contemporary materialistic society.

If you are interested in Asian voices that is not cuisine-heavy, I highly recommend Charles Yu’s “Interior Chinatown” (Winner of the National Book Awards 2020 for Fiction)

For YA, “Frankly in Love” by David Yoon is about Frank who is caught in between two worlds of which racism is neither exclusive to one. Review here:

Frankly in Love by David Yoon

Food-heavy books I recommend would be “Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner and “Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop” by Roselle Lim. For kids, award-winning author Grace Lin’s follow-up to her debut novel “The Year of the Dog” and “The Year of the Rat” comes “Dumpling Days” which recounts Pacey and her sisters’ first-ever trip to Taiwan where they get caught between being Taiwanese and American.