Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History

by Margaret Juhae Lee

"In this immersive, erudite memoir, Margaret Juhae Lee unspools her long- buried family history; centrally, her grandfather’s imprisonment in Japanese- occupied Korea." - Vanity Fair

“Absorbing...Starry Field reminds us that even knowing where we came from won’t tell us where we’re going - but it will help along the way.” Susan Choi, National Book Award winning author of Trust Exercise

A poignant memoir for readers who love Pachinko and The Return by journalist Margaret Juhae Lee, who sets out on a search for her family’s history lost to the darkness of Korea’s colonial decades, and contends with the shockwaves of violence that followed them over four generations and across continents.


 As a young girl growing up in Houston, Margaret Juhae Lee never heard about her grandfather, Lee Chul Ha. His history was lost in early twentieth-century Korea, and guarded by Margaret’s grandmother, who Chul Ha left widowed in 1936 with two young sons. To his surviving family, Lee Chul Ha was a criminal, and his granddaughter was determined to figure out why. 

Starry A Memoir of Lost History chronicles Chul Ha’s untold story. Combining investigative journalism, oral history, and archival research, Margaret reveals the truth about the grandfather she never knew. What she found is that Lee Chul Ha was not a source of shame; he was a student revolutionary imprisoned in 1929 for protesting the Japanese government’s colonization of Korea. He was a hero—and eventually honored as a Patriot of South Korea almost 60 years after his death.

But reclaiming her grandfather’s legacy, in the end, isn’t what Margaret finds the most valuable. It is through the series of three long-form interviews with her grandmother that Margaret finally finds a sense of recognition she’s been missing her entire life. A story of healing old wounds and the reputation of an extraordinary young man, Starry Field bridges the tales of two women, generations and oceans apart, who share the desire to build family in someplace called home. 

Starry Field weaves together the stories of Margaret’s family against the backdrop of Korea’s tumultuous modern history, with a powerful question at its heart. Can we ever separate ourselves from our family’s past—and if the answer is yes, should we? 


20 memorable photographs will be included.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Asia, Aapi, Audiobook, Biography Memoir

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 5, 2024

Reviews

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Granted, I know the author. And I’ve know her since the 80s. And we are friends. And the question of “how’s the book coming along” has been a topic of conversation for almost 2 decades. But this is an honest review, not a nepo-review.

I finally got to read Starry Field and tears are welling up in my eyes. As much as this is a memoir of uncovering her family lost history, finding the truth about her paternal grandfather, it’s a testament to what it means to be a woman. Yes, the story is about her grandfather. But, I was much more touched by the survival of the generations of women.

Juhae’s grandmother - everything she had to do to survive and protect her children in a time when women were, for the most part, property. Juhae’s mother - a woman who put her own desires for education aside to be a mother and a wife. It really made me think about my own family history and my partner’s family history and how it was the women, our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers, who were never given the recognition they deserve.

I loved this book.
Thank you, Margaret Juhae Lee for sharing your story. I feel like I know you better now than I ever have.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book because the author juxtaposed her search for her patriot grandfather with her search for her own purpose in life. She got up close and personal with the Japanese heavy hand ruling over Korea from 1910 until the end of WRII. What if the war never happened? Would Korea still be under Japanese rule? At some point brave men like Juhae’s grandfather would create enough force to expel them. But since he chose Communism as a means to kick them out, the West would probably intervene like they did in Vietnam.

I learned a lot about Korean history from this book and plan to look into the first peasant revolt in the 1890’s that actually gave the Japanese a door into Korea after they defeated China.

Her family story is poignant and full of bravery from her, her parents, and grandparents. When she marries and has two children to continue the a Korean lineage, it is a seeet and happy ending!

[oosutein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the book is very interesting and insightful in a personal way to the history of korea. I think that the book did feel a bit confusing jumping between her own story and the grandfather's story, i do understand why she did it but im not sure if it was the best choice. The author was very honest with the readers and in some sense i appreciated it and enjoyed it and in some ways i felt a bit off-put by the details(i.e. her ex boyfriend Ciaran) that didnt seem too relevant to the story. I also felt the random inserts of queer/gayness in the story were a bit out of place and i get her point but since the relationship of these aspects to the plot or herself weren't really clear it felt almost accessorizing rather than something that felt necessary or critical in the story. I felt like her feelings towards korea and korean people were very valid because as a korean american i feel similar attitudes when visiting korea but it also felt like things couldve been worded differently because in a way the descriptions do seem a bit ignorant/adhering to prejudice people may hold towards korean society and people. I appreciated that the story took a more broad approach and appreciated the women who were critical and i think i wish it expanded more on it. I guess as someone who is more interested in the historical aspect of the book, i wouldve appreciated more of that but the process of her coming to write the book was also interesting and inspiring.

[Melissa Gopp-Warner]

In Starry Field, Margaret Juhae Lee goes on a mission to uncover the hidden history of her grandfather, who was imprisoned and died at an early age. Much of the narrative focuses on her research and interview process. The chapters I enjoyed the most were about her own life as a young adult in New York and her struggle to forge an identity of her own making rather than the vision her Korean parents had for her. The final chapters helped me understand the significance of her search for her family’s missing stories in her quest to move wholly and fully into her future. This was a slower read for me, but one full of meaning and history I otherwise may not have been exposed to.

[Laura Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful memoir and fascinating introduction (for me!) to early 20th century Korean history told through the lens of the author's family saga. I loved the way she wove together a beautiful memoir about her own experience growing up in the United States, as well as her trips to Korea over the years -- both to visit family and to research their history. An inspiring story of her Communist grandfather's resistance to the Japanese occupation and oppression of Korean culture, as well as his granddaughter's gift to her family -- past, present and future --by telling not just his forgotten story but her own as well. Highly recommend!

[CatReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starry Field is a family history chronicle that took author Margaret Juhae Lee a quarter century to write. Lee is a first generation Korean-American whose paternal grandfather looms large in her life, despite never meeting him as he passed away in 1936 when her father was a toddler and Korea was under Japanese rule. In her 30s, in the late 90s/early 00s, she takes over her father's mission to learn more about the circumstances of her grandfather's life and death:

With my father's help, I have created a new history for my family. A history previously characterized by forgetting the past has been transformed into one of reclamation and renewal. The search, which began with my father’s sabbatical in 1992, continued as part of my journey. Maybe my journey is best described as a late coming-of-age story. As part of the first generation born in a new country, I began to look toward my family’s tumultuous past only as an adult. On the plane to Korea in 2000, I didn’t fully understand why I was embarking on this search. Now, I realize that confronting my family’s forgotten past was an essential step in paving the way to the future—and having a child of my own. I finally feel at home.

Interestingly, though she set off to uncover the mysteries of her paternal grandfather, many of her findings allow her to see her reticent paternal grandmother in a new light.

Lee's family history is heavily interspersed with her own recollections, many of which are not central to the main plot and deal with her '80s youth as a New Wave teen/young adult and '90s New York City living while pursuing journalism as a career. The narrative is choppy at times, flipping quickly from her grandparents' era to her parents' era to her era. I think ultimately her main audience for this book is her own children, as a way to teach them about their late grandparents and great-grandparents, which is lovely. As a reader, I gained an appreciation for life in Korea in the decades preceding the Korean War, particularly for women, which was quite interesting. Like Lee, after learning about her family history, I would agree with her that her late grandmother was really the hero of the family.

My stats:
Book 128 for 2024
Book 1731 cumulatively

[Orie at Let's Take A Shelfie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"For my story is our story, and involves the reclamation of the lives forgotten and seeming buried forever in our ancestral homeland."

Starry Field is Margaret Juhae Lee's retelling of her search to rediscover her family's history buried in documents and stories tied to Korea's dark past. Margaret recounts her multiple visits to Korea and her experiences and learnings while she's there. As time passes and she begins her journalism career she is focused on the life of her grandfather, Lee Chui Ha. A man that had a rebellious side and was later imprisoned. Margaret is determined to uncover the truth.

I enjoyed reading this memoir as it was intriguing to read about the lengths Margaret went to learn about her grandfather and the rest of her family along the way. Her stories pull readers in to feel all of the emotions expressed by her family members through their interviews and by Margaret herself as she remembers and dictates each of these memories. By the end of her journey, she has collected a book of history across three generations that she can proudly share with her two children. Their family stories will never be lost again.

I was once told, "Every family has a historian.". In my family, this is the role I play. Though not a trained journalist (or a writer for that matter), I've had to endure the difficulty of interviewing the older generations in my family. Sorting through fact vs fiction and pushing through the lack of desire to share stories was disheartening at times. But it's always rewarding when you piece together a story or add to a branch in the tree.

Thank you to Melville House and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of Starry Field. Opinions are my own.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starry Field is a memoir about a woman of Korean descent who grows up in Houston and returns to Korea several times to learn about her family's history. The story focuses on learning about the mysteries around her grandfather's life. Ms. Lee does very thorough research and spends a lot of time with her admirable grandmother, the matriarch of the family.

Starry Field briefly touched upon many elements of Korean history. However, the non-linear timeline of the memoir made it difficult to follow. I am really interested to learn more and relied on my own Google searches to fill the gaps that I struggled to close with the book.

Thank you to Melville House Publishing and NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is nonfiction, the experience of a young Korean-American journalist finding documentation on the life of her grandfather who lived and died in Korea. The story of her own life is weaved throughout, which is what actually made the story interesting.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading Margaret's story and her journey to discover the past of her family.

[Madeline Inman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love stories that feature the Bay Area ❤️ This was so well written and researched. It was comforting, devastating at times, moving and eye opening. I loved the themes of home and belonging? What is it and where do we find it?

[Melanie Schwitters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned of this book from the UT magazine. I gained some meaningful insights into the world my grandfather experienced in Korea, and also the Japanese colonization of Korea. This history was quite interesting, especially through the eyes of a granddaughter who was solving a family mystery mired in shame. Being a Korean-American in Houston must have been rough, so hearing how that happened to the author was enlightening. I liked how this book flowed, with various family members and the way they handled occupation, in addition to thinking about how I would handle this if it ever happened to me. Would I join the occupiers to save my family, would I revolt, would I escape? Good read.

[Bookreporter.com Biography & Memoir · Rating 5 out of 5]

In STARRY FIELD, Margaret Juhae Lee offers an international yet intimate account of a family member whose life would have been lost in a sea of forgetfulness were it not for her diligent dedication to discovering the truth --- a truth that brings honor and hope to those remaining.

The daughter of Korean immigrants, a young Lee never felt that she was where she wanted or needed to be. She always tried to explain to schoolmates that she was American, while their perception of her features told them she must be from somewhere else. Added to this sense of discomfiture was the fact that her father, Eun Sul, knew little of his own father, Lee Chul Ha. Her grandmother, Halmoni, refused to speak of him, leaving a blank space in her comprehension of her heritage.

Despite these deficits, Lee proved to be an achiever, completing higher education with honors and becoming a noted journalist. Her natural bent to find facts led her to partner with her father in an investigation into the life of her grandfather and the mystery surrounding his passing in a Japanese prison at a time when Korea was occupied by that brutal dictatorship.

What they learn will change their perspective, even that of Halmoni, who had been told that her young husband died as a traitor. Facts found in the few official papers combined with family lore revealed a very different reason for his death, which has resulted in fresh recognition by Lee and her family, as well as by the current Korean government. Interwoven into her journey of discovery is Lee’s personal journaling, putting her in vivid focus as a student, a romantic and a mother.

Lee, the former editor of The Nation, is a highly regarded wordsmith who has received many distinguished awards. Here she utilizes her talents in myriad ways to show the child within longing for a spiritual and emotional home, and the sharp-minded young woman with an ever-growing need to learn more about her family’s history. In so doing, she connects far more deeply with her birth family. Her work evinced in Halmoni the urge to revitalize her mothering skills, rewarded her father with knowledge of a father whom he could honor as a hero, and gifted to herself --- the self-proclaimed “girl who was born in a country where she didn’t feel at home” --- a sense of genuine pride and security that she can pass on to her children.

STARRY FIELD will attract a wide readership --- those who feel deprived of a true home and may be inspired like Lee to seek emotional refuge, and those who will admire and share the tale of one woman’s courageous sentiments and her willingness to act upon them.

Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott

[Brice Montgomery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Melville House Publishing for the ARC!

Margaret Juhae Lee’s Starry Field is a remarkably engaging family history that is only occasionally hampered by an unforthcoming memoir.

Lee works professionally as a journalist, and it shows in the best way. The journalistic approach is even more rewarding than one might expect, with Lee writing rich and affectionate profiles through interviews with her family members, thoughtfully curating which elements will be most interesting and relevant. I’m sure I speak for many readers when I say that I’ve been given an exceptionally short-sighted and biased view of Korean history, and Lee intuitively and preemptively accounts for such ignorance. The interviews themselves are also framed beautifully, allowing for all the wonderful idiosyncrasies of family—the extraneous details that are important because they are important to the person sharing them. Lee’s craft is admirable here, as these kinds of inclusions are exactly what allow her to plumb the deep complexities of both familial and cultural history.

Unfortunately, the memoir-tinged sections do not fare as well. I think memoir is about closing the distance between the real and imagined self, and doing so requires some level of interiority and ugly self-disclosure. Throughout Starry Field, the author often feels like an intruder in her own story, a little too preoccupied with unnecessary image control. For example, she repeatedly notes her political and religious stances almost defensively, and it struck me as odd each time because they don’t amount to much. In a memoir, I’m already on the narrator’s side, and I want to see what the writer explores when they have nothing to prove. In this book, it reads almost as if Margaret Juhae Lee is moving to establish her place in a lineage of political courage, and I just don’t know that it fully clicks. I think her journalistic prowess in reclaiming and reviving her family history does more than enough work in that regard.

Lest those criticisms sound harsh, I still think the book is exceptional in many ways, and it also makes me want to read a follow-up memoir if Lee explores her themes with more vulnerability. The final chapter and epilogue suggest it’s an exciting possibility, should the author choose. In the meantime, Starry Field is a fascinating look at how much is lost if families do not archive and memorialize their past, and I’m really excited to share this book with other people.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A women’s journey of self-discovery about her family’s history leads her to uncover family secrets and learn about herself.

An interesting story is marred by the disjointed nature of the book. Nothing is told in a linear manner. The author jumps back and forth in time as she seeks to piece together her grandfather’s life. He died when her father was an infant after being imprisoned due to his opposition to the Japanese colonial regime in Korea. Her grandparents entered into an arranged marriage. It was apparently not a happy one with her grandparents living apart for long periods of time and her grandfather seeking to take a second wife.

Her grandmother was left to raise two young sons by herself with little help from family after her husband’s death. She destroyed the records concerning her husband’s life, activities as a member of the Communist Party, and his imprisonment to protect her family as regimes changed in Korea. It was only in the 1990s after South Korea was freed from dictatorship and military rule that the author’s grandfather was recognized as a patriot and national hero, and accorded appropriate honors.

The author’s research is juxtaposed against her own life journey searching for a sense of identity and meaning, and seeking a fulfilling position including fulfilling a longing to be a mother after a series of bad relationships. Her path does not always meet the expectations of her parents, or members of her extended family.

She describes her research findings and interviews. Yet she fails to link it all together in a truly coherent manner to tell a tale from beginning to end although she strives to present a happy ending to the search with her fulfilling her dreams of a happy marriage and motherhood, and developing a sense of belonging, and her late father blossoming into an outgoing exuberant person after being withdrawn for much of his life due to his shame concerning his father. Many salient points are left unsaid, or not discussed. Thus, the reader is left with many unanswered questions about the lives of the author and her family.

The book rates 3.5 stars. .

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of Starry Field from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Starry Field chronicles Ms. Lee's investigations into her family's past. A child of two worlds, Ms. Lee recounts her childhood as a Korean American child in the United States, contending with her Korean and American identities and tracing her family's past through the tumultuous Japanese colonization and subsequent revolutionary periods in Korea. She gears her reflection through her search for information about her paternal grandfather, who died as a young man. Lee's memoir introduces us to 3 generations of her family, her grandmother, who was left a young widow, her father, a child left fatherless at a young age, and her own experiences in America and Korea.

Lee's investigation of her family and of herself make for an interesting read and invites the readers to reflect on the importance of their own past to move forward towards their futures.

[Amberle · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I wasn't very taken in by this book but eventually I was. I appreciated this person's quest to understand herself by understanding her family and extended family. She dives into family history which I felt was amazing for her to do given that it required years of effort and perhaps reluctance on the part of others. I initially thought the book was going to be more history oriented regarding Korea which I think was why I wasn't taken in by it initially. There is some history, yes, but it is more of a personal history rather than a social history of the place. It gives a history at the beginning: dates, major national events but not a lot of detail. This is not a criticism! It just gives the reader some perspective on the timeline of it all. I think it was a great read and I really enjoyed it. I recommend it for sure.

[BAM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated Lee’s detailed, thorough report to find the story of her grandfather and her overall family narrative. I liked learning about her research practices in Korea and her approach to getting to know her grandfather’s story. I wish the book had focused more on her grandfather’s story and its context. I feel like the competing narrative about Lee’s life, including rather mundane details like dating and moving, pulled attention away from her ancestral story. I’m not against a mixed memoir approach in general but I don’t think it worked in this context.

[Kevin Tuerff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful memoir by Margaret Juhae Lee about the Korean grandfather she never knew. She spend more than a decade doing research about his life as a prisoner of war when Japan invaded Korea. Margaret's journalistic background helped her uncover the true story and helped her grandmother decades after her husband's death. She also realizes the true purpose in writing this book was for her to share with her children. It's beautifully written and I read quickly even though I'm not a speed reader.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who were our ancestors, and where do we find the truth?

With a diligent investigation that took years, the author finds the shame her family carried about her grandfather was mistaken. His role in the formation of South Korea during Japan's occupation made him a hero long after his death. A powerful telling of one family's challenges and with many insights into the divide of North and South Korea.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a mother, writer, and daughter. So much of it is about the search for self-compassion and the steps one person needed to take to tell her family's story. And holy cow. What an ending and what a female role model--both in the grandmother and in the writer. Don't want to give anything away, but I love it when one story turns about to be about something/someone completely different than I expected as a reader. Highly recommend!

[Theresa N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historically interesting, but I did not really enjoy the writing, and I felt like the autobiographical memoir elements felt forced, and this would have been more compelling as a biography of her grandmother or grandfather or an investigative nonfiction generally without having her own growing up pov forced in

[Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

illuminations on an unremembered past

The author thought all the while what she wanted but in writing about her family, focusing on a paternal grandfather no one really, she knew exactly who she was and what she had always wanted. Worth a read if you are interested in looking at the myriad nooks and crannies of being an other.

[Rhonda Lomazow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starry Field is a search for Margaret Juhae Lees family roots in Korea.Raised in America a Korean America she starts traveling to Korea to research her family history .A well written memoir that kept me interested as the author unravels more and more information.#netgalley #melville

[Iris (Yi Youn) Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was inspirational to see how much care was poured into this memoir over three decades. I found it fascinating how colonial history has been erased and whitewashed in Korea because Japanese collaborating families now control much of the country and independence fighters were mostly Communists.

[Megan Parisian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - book
Aspects that worked (history, family, multigenerational storytelling, interesting) and others that didn’t (repetitive, a bit disjointed in moving from one story to the next). Overall, glad I stuck with it as I learned and enjoyed.

[Joan Maurer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting history of Korea - much of which as been lost.
Colony of Japan - writer's grandfather led protests against Japanese and was imprisoned for 4 years
After WWII - south given to US, north given to Soviets

[Ruben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the wrong expectations, as I thought this family search/history would give me a good understanding of 20th century Korea. The book is more about Margaret Juhae Lee's own life though. Interesting nonetheless.

[Kriskarlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this beautiful memoir about recovering family history, living life feeling like an outsider and connecting to one’s roots. This is a very touching book - I highly recommend it.

[Markus Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read