MEEGOOK: Dry Bones

by Jeanhee Kang

In November, 1982, Jesus asked Kang on the darkest night of her life, “Why aren’t you going to church?” Kang who had broken almost all of the Ten Commandments by age 25, questioned God in disbelief. “Why me?”, “You must not know of my dark past…” Three years after the Korean War ends, Jeanhee Kang is born to poor rice farmers in a predominantly Buddhist culture. A bowl of white rice came only once a year as a birthday celebration during her early childhood. A starving five-year-old Kang prays to her imaginary God, Hananim, for food to fill her hunger and asks Him to help her to run away for a better life as if God, Hananim can hear her cries. At sixteen, Kang’s life is forced into a role as a sub-human for breaking Korean taboo. No one can save her from her shame, not even her imaginary God, Hananim. Kang refuses to yield to her iron clad culture, believing her childhood dreams are still valid, and decides to challenge her unforgiving culture at any cost. She steals money to buy a one-way train ticket to run away to a brothel to earn a way to escape South Korea against all odds. At eighteen, Kang arrives in Meegook —America with $40.00 and a set of Korean to English—English to Korean dictionaries ready for a second chance against all odds. This captivating underdog tale, Meegook—Dry Bones doesn’t spare the reader any of the agonizing details of Kang's life nor does the book hold back all she overcame to realize her redemption in Jackson, Mississippi.

327 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2017

About the author

Jeanhee Kang was born in South Korea. After being expelled from high school at age sixteen for breaking a taboo, she was shunned by her unforgiving society and forced to run away from home to escape the intolerance. At age eighteen, in 1975, she came to the United States to find her second chance with only forty dollars in her pocket. Her memoir, Run Away: One Woman’s Story of Resilience, the story of her heart wrenching journey, doesn’t spare the reader any of the agonizing details of her childhood, nor does it hold back all she overcame to realize her dreams. Ms. Kang dedicates her inspirational story of survival to women all over the world who face similar hardships. While she awaits movie version of Run Away: One Woman’s Story of Resilience, she plans to graduate from Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi in May of 2014.

Reviews

[The Brothers Rodemeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who feels the pain of a life less lived, and has given up on their dreams. Jeanhee Kang's life journey is an inspiring rags to riches story embracing triumph over adversity and a reminder to us all that anything is possible if we believe it with all our heart. Thank you, Jeanhee, for touching me with your words and filling my heart with hope!

[janet smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! The author went through so many ups and downs in her life but came out on top! I felt like I was right there with her throughout her journey.