Longing for Home

Book excerpt: An ailing young writer falls in love with the kind, brave Yumie in Tokyo. Yumie moves to Seoul to be with the writer, but refuses to marry him without her family’s approval. Her family in Tokyo, whom she’d been the sole provider for, sends her a long, tearful letter detailing their troubles since her departure. The dutiful Yumie returns to Tokyo to look after her family, but promises the young writer that she would return before the spring of the following year. The young writer’s health quickly worsens as he eagerly awaits Yumie’s return.