Both crusades were eventually eclipsed -- and yet at the same time bolstered -- by the First World War. During the war years, women stepped into men's roles and proved themselves entirely capable, while importing feathers was banned and domestic bird populations flourished in the absence of hunters. In 1921, after the war ended, the feather ban finally became permanent law. Some women gained the right to vote in 1918, and the vote was extended to all women age 21 and older in 1928. This next except hints at the painstaking inquiries — letting us in on the fact that bigger issues are being explored: Lemon, by Korean novelist Kwon Yeo-Sun, is ostensibly a thriller in which Da-on, the protagonist (and one of the novel’s three narrators), tries to solve the mystery of the brutal murder of her nineteen-year-old sister Kim Hae-on during the heady days of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by Korea and Japan.

In all three cases, Hae-on’s beauty negates her humanity, elevating her into something supernatural or reducing her to an object. Either way she is portrayed as malleable, unfeeling. Whether Hae-on is worshipped or resented or punished has little to do with her, and this is clearest in Kwon’s constant shifting of her characterization. Each character ascribes intent to Hae-on’s appearance, justifying whatever reaction it inspires. Her beauty becomes inseparable from violence, but the violence goes both ways. If Sanghui is the stand-in for the true-crime consumer, Taerim is the voice of anyone who’s heard about a sexual assault and wondered, What was she wearing? Pinché un trozo de cabra y fingí quedarme extasiado por el ritmo, dando golpecitos con el pie en un vano intento de encontrar el compás. Mientras golpeaba con el pie, masticaba con furia el detestable trozo de ternilla de cabra que tenía en la boca. La canción se paró de forma abrupta y, una vez más, los músicos me miraron inquisitivamente. Pero esta vez mi integridad como crítico musical fue salvada por la ternilla de cabra que oportunamente se me había quedado atragantada en la tráquea."Publishing and prize-winning since 1996, Kwon is deftly translated by award-winning Korean Canadian Hong…A powerhouse thriller told in elliptical interlinked stories, Kwon's provoking narrative requires careful parsing and connecting. Her hints (and rewards) are many, well hidden on first read but deserving another visit…A deservedly successful Stateside debut that should assure future imports." - Booklist (starred review)

Kwon Yeo-sun was born in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province of South Korea in 1965. Kwon enjoyed a brilliant literary debut in 1996 when her novel Niche of Green was awarded the Sangsang Literary Award. At the time, novels that reflected on the period of the democratization movement in South Korea, were prevalent. Es la historia real de un inglés, que se va con su señora a vivir a una casucha inhóspita en medio de la nada, o bueno, en medio de una zona muy fértil y bonita en Andalucía. Pero el lugar hasta donde llegan se está literalmente cayendo a pedazos, al menos al principio. Luego van armando de a poquito sus cosas.Seventeen years pass without any resolution for those who knew and loved Hae-on, and the grief and uncertainty take a cruel toll on her younger sister, Da-on, in particular. Unable to move on with her life, Da-on tries in her own twisted way to recover some of what she's lost, ultimately setting out to find the truth of what happened.