'Flashlight' unravels a mystery set in a geopolitical thriller

“Spray from the waves sometimes lands on the rocks and so he has carefully rolled up the cuffs of his slacks. He still wears his hand polished shoes. In one hand he holds a flashlight which is not necessary, in the other hand he holds Louisa’s hand which is also not necessary. She tolerates this out of kindness. ‘One thing I will always owe your mother is she taught you to swim. Because swimming is important to know how to do, for your safety. But when she gave you lessons, I thought it was too dangerous. I was very unfair … . Someday, you’ll feel thankful to your mother. But I want you to feel thankful now.’ These are the last words he ever says to her.”

— “Flashlight,” Susan Choi

“Flashlight” is a mysterious story that opens with 10-year-old Louisa and her father, Serk, who are walking along a beach in Japan. Louisa is later discovered on the beach barely breathing, and her father is missing. The story then unfolds into a geopolitical thriller that highlights the under-discussed history between Japan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) with some of the most complicated characters that, if you knew people like this in real life, would be akin to hugging a cactus.

There is Louisa’s overprotective but unloving father, Serk, who is presumed to have drowned, Louisa’s mother, Anne, who is dealing with a debilitating disease, and finally Louisa, their defiant daughter, who fights any compassionate feelings for her mother or father.

The book centers around the stories of the three characters, including flashbacks to Serk growing up as a poor Korean living in post-World War II Japan. His family is lured by a flyer to go back to their homeland which is located in the newly created Democratic People’s Republic of Korea based on the false promise of a socialist paradise. Japan’s treatment of its Korean immigrants does not reflect well on the Japanese government. The Koreans in Japan are considered permanent residents that are viewed as second-class citizens.

Choi writes about the “Permanent Resident Alien whose ten fingerprints are all kept on record at each prefectural office but who could never hold a job in such an office, nor any proper job with a pension, because of not having Japanese blood.”

Serk being a brilliant student knows that he has no future in Japan, but he is also suspicious of the DPRK and instinctively knew there was no future there, either. His mother, father and younger siblings migrated back to North Korea under the repatriates program that was supported and encouraged by the Japanese government. Serk balks at his parents saying of his siblings, “They were born in Japan; they can’t repatriate someplace they’ve never been.” The parents pack up Serk’s younger siblings and they board a boat back to the DPRK. Meanwhile, Serk decides that he will get his graduate degree from a college in the United States and meets his future wife, Anne.

Anne has her own storied past that involves an illegitimate son, who she signs away to her older lover and his wife. Anne marries Serk, but they exist in a loveless relationship that is centered around their daughter Louisa. Anne is the third wheel in the familial role and constantly endures sharp words and cold shoulders from her husband and daughter.

Louisa is the precocious daughter who questions her parents’ motives, secrets and decisions at every turn. She is engulfed in her own childhood trauma that clouds her ability to accept love. As the story unfolds into her adulthood, she maintains her defensiveness but makes slight attempts to figure out what she remembers of the night of her father’s mysterious disappearance.

Here are a couple of good book pairings for readers to consider: Robert S. Boynton’s nonfiction book “The Invitation-Only Zone: The True Story of North Korea’s Abduction Project” and Adam Johnson’s fictional “The Orphan Master’s Son.”

Deborah Condit is the owner of Books on the Bosque, located at 6261 Riverside Plaza Lane, Suite A-2, or at booksonthebosque.com.