An occasionallyterrifying and always vivid portrayal of what it was like to live as a refugeeimmediately after the end of the Korean War. This novel is based on theauthor’s own experience in his early teens in Daegu, in 1954, and depicts sixfamilies that survive the hard times together in the same house, weathering thetiny conflicts of interest and rivalries that spring up in such close quarters,but nonetheless offering one another sympathy and encouragement as fellow sufferersof the same national misfortune: brothers and sisters in privation.