''A beautiful, deliberate and satisfying story spanning thirty years of Korean history''Publishers'' Weekly''Kim weaves a wonderfully nuanced historical portrait, rich in detail and resonant with meaning and wisdom'' IndependentIn 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 fourteen-year-old Najin into an aristocratic family, her mother defies generations of obedient wives and instead sends her daughter 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 change her world forever. As she desperate
