lrmsreads 's review for:

The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim

4.0

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I finished reading The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim. It's the story of a woman living in Korea during it's occupation by Japan before and during WWII. Najin's father tries to marry her off at the age of 14, but she and her mother defy him and she is sent to live with a relative connected to the royal family. When the Emperor is murdered, she returns home until she can attend college. Once she is finished with college, a friend suggests a husband to her father. She ends up falling in love with the man (a Presbyterian minister), but the day after their wedding, her passport to the United States and she is left behind. As, I was reading this, I realized that this is the third book in a row and the fourth book since I started reading Asian lit that has focused on WWII and it's impact on Asian countries (Beside a Burning Sea, The Commoner, Shanghai Girls). WWII obviously had a profound impact on these countries. And, I wonder about the relationship between Korea, Japan and China now. Obviously there is a lot of tension between the other countries and N. Korea, but I wonder about the other relations. I also noticed that in both Shanghai Girls and The Calligrapher's Daughter they mention a heavy presence of Methodist missionaries. And, both families were Methodist in the book. I wonder if the Methodist presence continues or if it has waned since the end of the World War. Overall, I enjoyed this book and the story of Najin.