A Free and Resilient Spirit--
Princess June Learns
About Life on the Run and on the Ropes
Set in Korea during the 1950s and 1960s, this is a novel about a young girl who becomes a young woman,and in the process, and against enormous odds, takes charge of her life.
Junee's mother, buffeted by history--the Japanese occupation and the Korean War--fled the family when Junee was very young, leaving Junee to be raised by her father, a successful and wealthy pimp and gangster. This father is a horrible parent who abuses the young girl. The other member of the family is Hosuk, Junee's older brother, who has chosen to follow in his father's shady footsteps. Eventually the father and son have a struggle and showdown, and young Hosuk emerges the winner-a temporary blessing for young Junee, and as Junee becomes an attractive teenager, he drags her about to attract victims for his gang of thugs.
Junee manages to escape Hosuk's clutches and she moves from job to job, making her way. For a while she works for a family and finds she has a talent and a love for taking care of small children; this will become an important theme of the book before it is over. Unfortunately, she can not really rise in the world because of her class and, more importantly, because of her gender. As an attractive young girl on the way to becoming an attractive young woman, she is usually placed in jobs that make her feel cheap. She becomes a hostess in an important restaurant, but when she won't become the kept mistress of its owner, she loses her chances for advancement.
Eventually, though, she does land a job in a good restaurant and bar and she becomes a bartender. There she meets an American teacher of English, Sparky DiMacchio, who befriends her and makes her feel worthwhile. Sparky introduces Junee to his American friend Greg, and before long Junee and Greg fall in love and move in together. Greg's gentleness and compassion overcome Junee's sexual fears--the vestige of her childhood abuse-and they become lovers. Junee gets pregnant, and she gives birth to a baby girl, whom she and Greg name Mary. It appears to be a happy ending.
But the happiness doesn't last. Greg cannot escape the authority of his family, especially his father, and he deserts her. Junee is once again a young woman in big trouble. Sparky comes to her aid again and helps her with the main problem at hand: how to ensure little Mary's future happiness. Junee puts the child, only one year old, up for adoption. This is a traumatic experience for her, but she knows, with the help of her therapist Dr. Lee, that this is for the best.
A final development is the violent death of Hosuk, Junee's nemesis and the last of her family. Junee is now free to make her own choices, and thanks to the struggles she's endured throughout her youth, she will be strong enough to make good choices.
Veronica Lee was born and raised in South Korea. She emigrated to the United States at the age of twenty and became a software consultant after graduating from college. She has spent many years building computer systems and writing hundreds of design documents. Princess June is her first novel. She and her husband make their home in Southern California.
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