Can't I Go Instead

By: Lee Geum-yi, An Seonjae - translator

Narrated by: Michelle H. Lee

Can’t I Go Instead follows the lives of the daughter of a Korean nobleman and her maidservant in the early 20th-century. When the daughter’s suitor is arrested as a Korean Independence activist, and she is implicated during the investigation, she is quickly forced into marriage to one of her father’s Japanese employees and shipped off to the United States. At the same time, her maidservant is sent in her mistress’s place to be a comfort woman to the Japanese Imperial army.

Years of hardship, survival and even happiness follow. In the aftermath of WWII, the women make their way home, where they must reckon with the tangled lives they’ve led, in an attempt to reclaim their identities, and find their places in an independent Korea.

©2023 First published in Korean as 거기, 내가 가면 안 돼요? by Sakyejul Publishing Ltd. First published in English as Can’t I Go Instead by Forge™ a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC Published by Scribe Copyright ️ Lee Geum-yi 2016 Translation copyright ️ An Seon Jae (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

'Can't I Go Instead's complex and profoundly human characters will captivate, devastate, and move you, all at once.' (Juhea Kim, author of Beasts of a Little Land)

'Compelling and inspiring, this story speaks of resilience and determination to make the best out of the situation one has been dealt.' (Booklist)