The Printed Page

Title: The Calligrapher’s Daughter: A Novel
Author/website(s): The Calligrapher’s Daughter
406 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Publication date: August ’09
Genre: Historical fiction
Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: Yes
Would I read more from this author: Probably; depends on the subject matter
Notes to myself: I found this story very slow going to start and it stayed that way until about mid-way through the book. The chapter that consists of letters from mother to daughter is where the author started to catch my interest. From then on I thought the story got better and much more interesting. I was very surprised by the strong Christian religious influences in this story. The Calligrapher’s Daughter is a work of fiction based on the author’s parents history. What I’d like to know and isn’t clear from her website is how much of lives of the characters portrayed here is in deed fact from her parents lives.

In early-twentieth-century Korea, Najin Han, the privileged daughter of a calligrapher, longs to choose her own destiny. Smart and headstrong, she is encouraged by her mother—but her stern father is determined to maintain tradition, especially as the Japanese steadily gain control of his beloved country. When he seeks to marry Najin into an aristocratic family, her mother defies generations of obedient wives and instead sends her to serve in the king’s court as a companion to a young princess. But the king is soon assassinated, and the centuries-old dynastic culture comes to its end.

In the shadow of the dying monarchy, Najin begins a journey through increasing oppression that will forever change her world. As she desperately seeks to continue her education, will the unexpected love she finds along the way be enough to sustain her through the violence and subjugation her country continues to face? Spanning thirty years, The Calligrapher’s Daughter is a richly drawn novel in the tradition of Lisa See and Amy Tan about a country torn between ancient customs and modern possibilities, a family ultimately united by love, and a woman who never gives up her search for freedom.