A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

Seventeen-year-old Hwang Boyeon (Iseul)is determined to find her older sister, Suyeon who was  kidnapped only three days earlier by the tyrant King Yeonsan who rules Korea. 

The two sisters had lost their parents when royal soldiers had killed their father, a magistrate and their mother. Iseul and Suyeon had fled to their grandmothers hut. Living with the grandmother had not been easy. Suyeon had taken work but Iseul wanted to preserve her hands and had only complained. The two sisters frequently quarrelled. Suyeon who was very beautiful, was taken when she followed Iseul out of their hut after an argument. King Yeonsan kidnapped married, betrothed women, taking even the noble daughters. So Iseul believes her sisters kidnapping is her fault.

Exhausted, Iseul travels through the part of Gyeonggi Province that is not the king's personal hunting grounds. The once flourishing territory is emptied of thousands of people. Arriving in a small hamlet, Iseul enters a thatched-roof inn, The Red Lantern, where she almost collapses. She is helped by a young woman who seems too kind and too sweet. 

The woman quickly surmises that Iseul is looking for someone and she tells her that the hamlet has a bell that rings to warn the young women that the king is about to pass through. This allows them to hide and avoid being kidnapped. She also reveals that the king travels with hundreds of his most favoured courtesans and that he is on his way to the village.

The rough-bearded man Iseul noticed eavesdropping on their conversation indicates that the king's finest swordsmen and archers guard them. He tells Iseul and her sister would both be killed. The innkeeper identifies the man as Wonsik ajusshi, guardian of the inn. Suddenly a young man, Yeongho, dressed in a red robe and golden sash, rushes into the inn, addressing the innkeeper as Madame Yul and tells her that a murder has just occurred outside the village. He states that the village elder believes the murder is the work of "Nameless Flower", an anonymous killer who has murdered twelve government officials. To prevent the visiting king from becoming enraged, the corpse has been moved to a reed field. Iseul believes if she can catch the killer she will be able to free her sister.

Inspecting the corpse Iseul determines that the man died from a blade to the throat. A red flower had placed on his chest and a bloody message scrawled on his robe. She also finds two wax beads, one yellow, one red, in the dead man's clenched hand. Iseul places the red bead inside her jolit mal (breastband). 

Wonsik and Madame Yul arrive to examine the body. Madame Yul reveals that Wonsik used to work for the Uigeumbu, as an Officer of the State Tribunal, investigating cases of treason. Iseul determines that Wonsik was not involved in her parents case. He tells Iseul that the victim is Young Master Baek, the eighteen-year-old son of the king's close aide, and was recently given a government position. Master Baek went missing three weeks earlier along with his two attendants both of whom died in the attack. 

Wonsik surmises that Iseul is determined to solve the crime to win the king's reward, that she is part of the yangban aristocracy, that her parents are deceased and that she is a fugitive. He tells her she will never succeed in bargaining with the king. However, he does explain that the king's courtesans live in Wongaksa Temple, near Gyeongbok Palace and is are heavily guarded. Every day the women are brought to the Sungyungwan Royal Academy to entertain the king. Iseul would be able to determine if her sister is there by looking over the wall. He knows this because his daughter was there. 

Iseul learns that Wonsik is investigating the murders, not for the reward, but for someone who believes the killings are causing more trouble in the city. With Wonsik helping, Iseul determines that the victim was injured when kidnapped, then starved for weeks. Their investigation is cut short with the arrival of the State Tribunal Officials, leading Iseul to flee into the woods. 

While hiding in the woods Iseul encounters Prince Daehyun, half brother to King Yeonsun. He had been part of the king's hunting party as they travelled through the hamlet. After killing a doe, the king declared that any of the princes who returned without a kill would be executed. So Daehyun is out hunting to prevent his own execution which had been foretold for this day by a shaman.  His arrow grazes Iseul's shoulder, pinning her to a tree by her jacket. However, Daehyun spares Iseul's life, ordering her to remain hidden when a guard approaches. The guard reveals that the king has murdered a dozen people while Daehyun was out hunting. 

Iseul returns to the Red Lantern Inn where Madame Yul treats her wound and tells her to consider the inn her home until she finds her sister but that she will have to help out at the inn. The next day Iseul sets out to find the Royal Academy in Hanyang, the capitol of Joseon, by travelling with a troupe of jesters. She travels with the help Yeongho.  In Hanyang, Iseul is shocked at the prevalence of death and destruction. With Yeongho's help, Iseul is able to enter the academy dressed as a servant and to locate Suyeon. She finds her sister cold and detached. Suyeon tells Iseul to return home and leave her, "There are over a thousand women here who wish to return home but cannot. This is the way of life for us. We are born to be devoured." She also tells her to find Uncle Choi Ikjan, to forget her, and to seek the life she has always wanted. 

As she is leaving the Royal Academy, Iseul impulsively attempts to rescue another girl being kidnapped by a chehongsa officer, stabbing him with a piece of wood and causing a riot. She is pulled to safety by Wonsik and taken to the inn to recover from her arrow wound. After five days of recuperation, Iseul begins helping Madame Yul by harvesting roots and bark in the woods. At the inn, Iseul learns that Wonsik plans to travel to Jamsil village to question the wife of one of Master Baek's attendants. Determined to find Nameless Flower, Iseul races to the village and learns from the widow that her husband described the attacker as "half man, half wolf". Wonsik shows up in Jamsil but admonishes Iseul, telling her she must notice the small things and to not take evidence from a crime scene.

Meanwhile Prince Daehyun learns from Hyukjin that he helped his sister, Sonhui procure kyungpo-buja for Lady Seungpyeong who has been found dead. Hyukjin reveals that Lady Seungpyeong was pregnant at age fifty with the king's child as a result of rape. Daehyun advises Hyukjin to remain silent and his sister not to flee. Prince Daehyun also learns that the girl he met in the forest has been found and he travels to the Red Lantern Inn where he finds Iseul. There he meets up with Wonsik who reveals that Min Hyukjin returned to his home but left immediately. Wonsik found a note in the handwriting of Nameless Flower telling Hyukjin that his sister was fleeing the palace. However, his sister was being interrogated at this time. Wonsik tells Daehyun that Hyukjin was last seen riding into Mount Acha. Wonsik and Daehyun believe that Hyukjin will be Nameless Flower's next victim as the king is due to pass through Mount Acha the next day.

Prince Daehyun and Wonsik leave immediately to try to locate Hyukjin, but are followed by Iseul. Her presence is explained to the prince but he is skeptical that she can succeed in her plan to bargain with King Yeonsan. Daehyun finds Hyukjin hanging from a tree but as he's cutting him down, he is attacked, and witnesses his friend being kicked over a cliff, before being knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, Wonsik and Iseul take shelter from the rain in a cave overnight. During this time, Wonsik suggests to Iseul that the stories she's heard about the prince are not true. 

At dawn, Wonsik is gone but hears the voices of the king's soldiers who have discovered Hyukjin's body, enraging the king. Investigator Gu explains that it was left where the king could see it and that the killer is someone within the palace who know of the king's change of plans to hunt earlier on Gwangneung Mountain. As the soldiers begin to search the area, Iseul stumbles upon a badly wounded Daehyun. Initially she refuses to help him  but he offers to help her free her sister. As the soldiers move up the hill searching, Daehyun and Iseul move quickly and hide. During the night Daehyun reveals to Iseul that he intends to stage a coup - a banjeong - a changing the heavens. 

The thought of bargaining with the tyrant King Yeonsan and trying to solve the mystery of Nameless Flower is daunting to Iseul and so she reluctantly agrees to become a part of the small group beginning to plot the coup with the promise that it will free her sister. For Iseul it will bring about revelations, loss and betrayal. But along the way she will discover the identity of Nameless Flower, save her sister, and find love and happiness with the person she least expects.

Discussion

A Crane Among Wolves is another well-written historical fiction novel that is set during the rule of the tyrant King Yeonsan in the early 1500s in Korea.

Prince Yeonsan was born November 23, 1476. When his father, King Seongjong's first wife, Queen Gongjye died, he took a concubine, Lady Yun, as his second wife and queen, in 1476. She gave birth to the king's heir, Yi Yung. However, Queen Yun was deposed and ordered into exile after striking the king and the incident discovered by the king's mother. Despite attempts to restore her as queen, she was exiled and eventually executed by poison.

Yi Yung grew up believing his mother was Queen Jeongyeon, his father's third wife. He became King Yeonsan, the tenth monarch of the Jeoson dynasty of Korea in 1495. Initially his reign was benevolent; he helped the poor and was a good administrator. However, in 1504 King Yeonsan learned the identity of his biological mother and her gruesome death from a scholar. He showed the king her bloodied robe that Lady Yun's mother had saved. Enraged, King Yeonsan began seeking vengeance, killing two concubines who were involved in his mother's murder, executing those government officials who supported his mother's exile and execution and even punishing those officials who were at the palace on the day of her execution. But his vengeance went much further than just executions.

He closed the royal university and converted it and an adjacent temple into a gisaeng, a place where thousands of kidnapped girls and women were taken to be used by the king. He also displaced tens of thousands of people in the capital, converting the area in to his personal hunting grounds. In 1506, the despotic king was overthrown by soldiers and officials in a coup that resulted in Yeonsan exiled to an island and his half brother Prince Jinseong made king.

This forms the background of the story crafted by June Hur in A Crane Among Wolves. Seventeen-year-old Iseul's parents were killed because her father was at the royal court when the queen was executed. Iseul learns that her Uncle Choi Ikjun of the Chungju Choe clan, gave their names so as to avoid being demoted in rank. With their parents now murdered, Iseul and her older sister Suyeon had to flee to their grandmother's home. It was at this time that Suyeon, who was very beautiful was kidnapped and taken to the king's palace where she was raped and forced into concubinage.

A Crane Among Wolves is historical fiction that combines both mystery and romance. Iseul believes if she can solve the mystery identity of the killer Nameless Flower she will be able to bargain with the king to free her sister. Nameless Flower is killing those near to the king. As she works with a former royal officer, Jang Wonsik, to solve the murders, Iseul also begins to fall in love with Prince Daehyun who is the half brother of the king and who decides to help her free her sister, while also planning a coup to depose King Yeonsan. Hur incorporates into her novel, many details of King Yeonsan's reign and life in Korea during this era.

The story in A Crane Among Wolves is told by two characters, Iseul and Prince Daehyun in alternating chapters. Iseul undertakes not only a physical journey to discover the whereabouts of her sister Suyeon and free her, but she also experiences an inner transformation that leads to growth and healing. She is initially motivated by guilt as she recalls how self-absorbed and uncaring she has been towards her older sister who always kind to her. Iseul recalls reading Suyeon's journal and being surprised how lonely her sister was, and that she struggled with always having to be the perfect daughter in order to be loved.  Iseul remembers how after the death of their parents, she refused to help Suyeon with chores, determined to preserve her hands and her pale skin, so she could make a good marriage. "My sister had labored for two years after our parents' passing, and I had let her, refusing to ruin my hands. This was not the life I was destined for, I had always said in protest."  Even Iseul's Uncle Choi remembers her as a girl who had little affection for her older sister and who would strike her for even a trifle. Although the two sisters had once been close, as they grew older they fought almost every day. It was during one of these arguments that Suyeon was seen and taken by the king, leading Iseul to blame herself.

Iseul is initially motivated by guilt but also love to find her sister. She discovers that her desire for a life of prosperity is replaced. Suyeon's absence "had stripped me bare, down to the very sinew of my being" and Iseul discovers she truly loves her sister, with a love that left her "...haunted and sleepless many nights..." When she is sees Suyeon in the Royal Academy, "her arms hanging limp by her side" with "the eyes of frightened yet weary girl" Iseul is feels Suyeon is "like a woman murdered". Haunted by her memories, Iseul remembers that Suyeon was a good daughter and kind sister and she becomes determined, despite the reluctance of Wonsik, Daehyun and even her uncle, to free her sister from the king. 

Iseul reveals herself to be a fearless, intelligent young woman, determined not to be confined by the limits Korean society has placed on her. Daehyun recognizes her rebellious spirit. She tells him "It is impossible not to be,...One is imprisoned by a thousand rules as a woman, and no one will explain why such rules exist."  She doesn't let her gender stop her from investigating the murders done by Nameless Flower, either following Wonsik as he travels or taking the initiative and investigating potential leads and new crime scenes. 

She exhibits courage in entering the Wongaksa Temple at great risk to herself to find her sister. She attacks a chehongsa officer, in an attempt to free a young girl being captured for the king. She bravely fights off the chehongsa officers when they try to kidnap her, and wants to stand and fight with Prince Daehyun and Wonsik when they are ambushed in the forest. She re-enters the Wongaksa Temple in a final attempt to help her sister flee during the coup and she bravely confronts Yeongbo in the forest.

Iseul and Prince Daehyun also experience  a transformation in their relationship. Their relationship starts out as one of mutual distrust but gradually evolves. Both carry the demons of regret and remorse over actions that caused harm to those they loved. Iseul believes she is solely responsible for the situation her sister Suyeon finds herself in but Prince Daehyun tells her that it is the responsibility of the king alone.  He reminds Iseul, "...sisters bicker and quarrel...yet when the other bleeds, you bleed too." He explains to Iseul, "That is family. So do not feel guilty for what occurred. None of it is your fault. Let the king, and the king alone carry the weight of all his crimes."

When they first meet in the forest, Iseul is disdainful towards Daehyun as he is part of the royal family that has ruined hers. Iseul doesn't trust him and believes he is cruel and despicable. She believes the stories about him having hunted down and murdered his foster brothers, Prince Anyang and Bongan. However, Daehyun explains to her that Lady Jeong and her sons were like family to him. The two brothers beat their own mother to death but did not know it was her. They were following the king's order. They fled but allowed Daehyun to capture them, requesting that he survive so as to seek revenge.  Iseul comforts Daehyun telling him that he was "simply honoring your brothers' wishes." 

Gradually Daehyun grows to love Iseul and proves this to her by not only saving her life several times, but also by attempting to intervene and prevent her sister from being given as a "gift" to Official Wu. His love for her is demonstrated by him taking the arrow that was meant for her when Yeongbo confronts them in the forest at Yongsan. Likewise Iseul grows to trust Prince Daehyun and love him. At great risk, she has Wonsik's son Gunwu take her to Yongsan District to warn Daehyun about Nameless Flower.

Hur realistically portrays the plight of the young girls and women who have been enslaved by King Yeonsan. Iseul's sister, Suyeon becomes physically and psychologically ill after sexual abuse by the king. When Iseul first finds her sister in the Royal Academy she notes "...there was a look in her eyes I had never seen before. They seemed the eyes of a frightened yet weary girl clinging to the edge of a cliff, her grip slipping, finger by finger." Iseul notes "A bruise the shape of a handprint wrapped around her throat." Suyeon tells Iseul that the girls including herself "...are born to be devoured...This is our fate."  However, Iseul refuses to accept this fate for Suyeon telling her she will free her.

Later when Iseul returns to the Royal Academy prior to the coup, she learns that Suyeon is ill. She is told "She hasn't been herself since she was last summoned by the king." She finds her sister listless, her eyes "empty, hollowed out". Suyeon, later, after having escaped the palace, reveals to Iseul that she helped one of the courtesans who was married and pregnant when she was kidnapped, give birth to her baby, only to learn the king had the woman and her newborn murdered. 

Hur also portrays the difficulties women who have been sexually abused have in re-integrating into society, a problem that still exists today in many societies. Iseul learns that her sister along with  all "...the king's women will be  distributed as gifts to all the government leaders who join us, and your sister will go to Official Wu." When confronted by Prince Daehyun, Choi tells him that "...the truth of the matter is, the girl - Iseul's sister - will no longer have a place in society. She is...the king's whore. She will be scorned for the rest of her life. But what an honor it is to become the respected concubine of a powerful man."  In 16th century Korea, women are mere objects to be possessed and distributed as prizes. 

Iseul refuses to accept this and prepares to enter the Wongaksa Temple disguised as a courtesan to rescue Suyeon, While waiting to enter, she witnesses the suffering of the parents of the stolen girls as they watch their beloved daughters: "...the mob huddling alongside the street...stared at the procession of beautiful women as though witnessing caskets of the murdered. A great weeping of sorrow and fury broke out. They reached past the crush of spears, reaching for their children. They were mothers and fathers who looked like my own, and there were sisters, too, bearing my own reflection."  Many of the courtesans are given to Commander Park after the coup, however, Iseul's sister and some of the women do escape and are helped to reclaim their lives at Madame Yul's Red Lantern Inn. They cannot return to their families or villages as they are considered "tarnished", a term Yul rejects.

The title, A Crane Among Wolves is a reference to two important cultural symbols in Korean society. The crane is a symbol of purity and strength, while the wolf represents power but is also a deadly predator, The crane represents Iseul, but especially her sister Suyeon and the women enslaved by King Yeonsan and his court, who are the wolves. Hur frequently describes these women as being "devoured" by the wolf, King Yeonsan as they are raped and abused, while politely being labelled courtesans. The crane also represents the truth, which Iseul is seeking, while to wolves are those who want to hide or devour the truth. 

A Crane Among Wolves is another excellent piece of historical fiction by June Hur. The characters are interesting and well developed. The character of Jang Wonsik is especially endearing as he helps Iseul channel her impetuous nature into a kind of measured maturity, encouraging her to seek the truth. The romance between Hwang Iseul and Prince Daehyun, gradually blossoms without overwhelming the main story. Wonderfully, the novel ends on a happy and satisfying note for the main characters, despite all the suffering, abuse and murder.

As noted in the Historical Note at the back, the author endeavoured to stay faithful to historical facts, portraying the success of the coup as limited. While King Yeonsan was deposed, the coup failed to help the people overall. And many of the former king's women were enslaved to other men, notably Deputy Commander Park who had a house built to house them. The only complaint is the use of an "f-bomb" by Prince Daehyun, a word likely not in the Korea vocabulary five hundred years ago. Nevertheless A Crane Among Wolves is high recommended.

Book Details:

A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

New York: Feiwel and Friends     2024

359 pp.

The Red Palace by June Hur

The Red Palace is yet another outstanding historical fiction novel by author June Hur. This time the setting is 18th century Korea.

Baek-Hyeon (Hyeon) is an eighteen-year-old nae-uinyeo or nurse who works in the Hyeminseo, "a vast walled-in compound that held the medical office and its spacious courtyards." Hyeon and her fellow nurse, Jieun are called by Royal Physician Nanshin to accompany him from the Royal Apothecary to Joseung Pavilion, the main house in the Donggungjun compound. It is the residence of the Crown Prince, Prince Jangheon. 

There in a darkened chamber, Lady Hyegyoung, wife of the Crown Prince tells them that he has been feeling ill the past two days. However, when Hyeon glances up as Physician Nanshin examines the patient, she is shocked to see that it is the old eunuch in the bed and not the Crown Prince. 

Lady Hyegyoung remarks on how much Hyeon resembles the Crown Prince's deceased older sister, Princess Hwahyup. She also requests that both nurses continue to tend to the Crown Prince and if the king questions them, they are to tell him that his son is ill. Hyeon is uneasy about this lie and wonders, "Where had the real Prince Jangheon disappeared to?"

Suddenly Eunuch Choe arrives, informing Lady Hyegyoung that he has been unable to locate the Crown Prince as she had ordered him to do. He also brings news of a terrible massacre in the capital. Hyeon and Jieun are ordered to leave, but Hyeon overhears the eunuch state that four women have been murdered at the Hyeminseo.

At the Hyeminseo, Hyeon manages to lie her way in to see the crime scene, where she finds the bodies of the four murdered women covered by straw mats. Hyeon's examination of the bodies reveals nineteen-year-old student nurse Bitna, twenty-year-old Eunchae also a student nurse and the elderly Head Nurse Heejin, their throats all slashed. She also finds Court Lady Ahnbi who served Madame Mun, one of the king's concubines. Lady Ahnbi, who was dressed as a servant, had been killed by a single stab to the throat.

Commander Song questions Nurse Jeongu who insists that she saw nothing. Song, not believing her, orders Jeongu tied up and taken to the prison block. Meanwhile, Hyeon is confronted by a man she believes is a police servant. They argue about her presence and he threatens to take her to Commander Song. Hyeon explains that she is a nurse investigating the crime. After sharing some of what she's uncovered, Hyeon is helped by the police servant over the stone wall that encloses the Hyeminseo.

The next day Hyeon returns to the police station with a letter that she hopes will help Nurse Jeongsu. But on her way she sees that someone has put up handbills claiming the Crown Prince is a murderer. At the police bureau, Hyeon meets Nurse Inyeong who tells her she was the one who reported the murders. She tells Hyeon she encountered a frightened Lady Ahnbi running away and tried to follow her. Later on when she looked into the open gate of the Hyeminseo, she saw the murdered women.

Commander Song questions Nurse Jeongsu as to her whereabouts during the night as she was seen leaving her home around midnight and not returning.Jeongsu claims to have been out for a walk but she admits to having no alibi. Commander Song doesn't believe her, insisting she had an accomplice to help her plan and carry out the murders, and he has her taken away. 

Sulbi, a damo at the police bureau, tells Hyeon she believes Nurse Jeongsu is innocent and that Commander Song holds a personal grudge against her because Jeongsu was unable to save his wife and son during labour. She also tells Hyeon that anonymous handbills claiming the Crown Prince committed the murders at the Hyeminseo were posted all over the capital. Hyeon tries to have Sulbi give her letter to Commander Song but is interrupted by the arrival of her father, Lord Shin who works for the Ministry of Justice.

Hyeon is terrified of her father and hasn't spoken to him in five years. He tells her that the Commander will only be swayed by evidence and that her letter is useless. Lord Shin tells her to not to meddle and that as a "vulgar commoner", she has nothing to offer the investigation. After this encounter, Hyeon rips up her letter but remains determined to uncover evidence that will exonerate Nurse Jeongsu. Hyeon is devoted to her because it was Nurse Jeongsu who took her in after she was abandoned at the age of eight outside Gibang House in midwinter. 

The next day at Changdeok Palace, Physician Nanshin warns the palace nurses against indulging in the rumour about the Crown Prince. Nurse Inyeong and Hyeon volunteer to check on the king's concubine, Madame Mun and her infant daughter. It is during this visit that Hyeon learns more about Inyeong: that she was a damo for nine years so that she could continue serving in the police bureau in Gwangju to help with a murder investigation. The murder was solved and with the death of her mother, Inyeong finally passed the exams to fulfill her mother's dream of her becoming a palace nurse.

Madame Mun attempts to blackmail Hyeon into becoming a spy for her, threatening to tell the king anything she wants about her. She does tell Hyeon that a servant saw Physician Khun and Lady Ahnbi arguing.  Hyeon decides to pay a visit to Physician Khun's home but when she arrives, she finds the police servant is also there, this time disguised as a scholar. At the house, they discover a single garakji ring, implying that Physician Khun and Lady Ahnbi were in fact married. When Hyeon presses the servant, who has identifies himself as Seo Eojin, to tell the Commander of their find, he refuses telling her the Commander will only believe when they have discovered the real killer.

The police servant reveals his true identity as Police Investigator Seo Eojin, and asks Hyeon to work with him solve the mystery of the murders and uncover the truth of what happened in the Hyeminseo. As they draw closer to the truth, Hyeon and Eojin encounter political intrigue and unexpectedly... the blossoming of first love.

Discussion

The Red Palace is another well-written and engaging murder-mystery novel set during the reign of King Yeongjo (1694 to 1776) in the Joseon Dynasty.  Crown Prince Jangheon, also known as Crown Prince Sado, was the second son of King Yeongjo. He was born in 1735 to Lady Seonhui, a concubine of King Yeongjo. He lived in his own palace with his own eunuchs and staff. Prince Jangheon became heir to the throne when his older brother died prematurely. 

Prince Jangheon was married in 1744 to Lady Hyegyeong, whose accounts provide some of the information about his life. Their actual married life began when he was only fourteen-years-old. When he was ten-years-old, Prince Jangheon became seriously ill and it was around this time that his behaviour started to change. At times, the young prince seemed to be mentally unstable.

Sadly, his relationship with his father was strained. King Yeongjo was often critical of the young crown prince, scolding him publicly. It seemed the young prince could do nothing right. As time went on, the prince's erratic behaviour grew worse, further straining his relationship with his father.

His mental health deteriorated when his father's adoptive mother and wife, both of whom Jangheon was close to, died. He would beat his eunuchs, and once brought in the head of an eunuch he had murdered. He was known to kill palace staff and assault the ladies within the court. He was even physically and sexually abusive towards his own wife. 

In the summer of 1762, the situation was so dire, with threats of violence by Prince Jangheon, that King Yeongjo was persuaded to act. He ordered Prince Jangheon into a wooden rice chest which was then sealed. Eight days later it was opened and the Prince was dead. The king reinstated him as Crown Prince and he was renamed Sado.

In The Red Palace the events are set against the backdrop of palace intrigue and murder during King Yeongjo's reign. Palace nurse Baek-Hyeon is determined to save  Nurse Jeongju who has been her mentor and saved her life eight years earlier. She is relentless in her pursuit of the truth, taking great personal risks.

Hyeon, with the help of a young, police inspector, Eojin, risks everything she has worked towards, to prove her mentor's innocence. Along the way, Hyeon finds a true friend in Police Inspector Eojin Seo who treats Hyeon as his equal and with great respect and care. Hyeon is not used to this, especially since Eojin is "highborn" and therefore, her "better". As they work together to solve the murders, Hyeon finds their friendship blossoming into the beginnings of an unexpected romance.  

Hyeon's strained relationships with both her parents are an important driving force in her actions.  Hyeon dreads the disapproval of her father who has abandoned her mother and her family. To gain his approval she worked hard to become a palace nurse, often suffering nose bleeds due to a lack of rest. Hyeon believed if she could gain his approval, others would view her more favourably. However, her investigation into the murders sets her father against her. He repeatedly warns her to stop "meddling" and when Hyeon persists in her investigation, her father has her demoted and removed as a palace nurse and forces her family to leave his house. 

Hyeon also comes to realize that her belief that her mother doesn't love or care for her is not true. Hyeon has always felt anger towards her mother who seemed to favour her younger brother,  because he was a boy. Hyeon is certain her mother wanted a boy, but when Hyeon was born she was disappointed, so she gave her a boy's name. As an infant she was left to play in the dirt and be raised by a servant whereas her brother was carried in her mother's arms and provided tutors and treats.  

When Hyeon arrives home wounded, her mother tells her she must continue to investigate the murders, that she must be brave and continue to work to save Nurse Jeongsu. This is not how Hyeon expected her mother to act. Hyeon was certain her mother would be indifferent to her. Puzzled, Hyeon confronts her mother over the past and her abandonment outside Gibang House. Hyeon's mother tells her, "I wanted to raise you to be strong, to be prepared for the hardship that awaited you as woman of your status. Yet I almost crushed you instead, would have if Nurse Jeongsu had not intervened. I am forever grateful to her.She is more of a mother to you that I will ever be." Her mother encourages Hyeon to rejoin Inspector Seo, telling her that she is strong enough to continue. She informs Hyeon that she named her "...Baek, meaning eldest. And Hyeon, meaning 'virtuous, worthy, and able.'"

In the end, Hyeon more than lives up to her mother's expectations, while proving her father's belief that she is merely a "vulgar commoner" to be quite wrong. She courageously saves her own life and that of Eojin's, while helping to convince the murderer to confess. As a result she also exonerates the Crown Prince, earning the gratitude of the king. Her father however, is punished by the king for withholding the evidence as the Crown Prince's alibi. Despite how he has treated her, Hyeon asks the king to reinstate her father, rather than regaining her position as a palace nurse. She extends to her father the kindness and mercy he never offered her, but within her own boundaries. Hyeon no longer needs her father's approval. 

The Red Palace is another engaging novel that offers readers a window into court and political life in 18th century Korea. Hur's portrayal life during this period of  the Joseon Dynasty feels realistic, while providing readers with mystery, suspense and a touch of romance. Hur's novels are filled with a wealth of interesting characters: the main character is usually a strong, young woman who is intelligent and resourceful. Hur incorporates many cultural practices into her novels which helps develop the setting and atmosphere of her stories. Generally, Hur's novels have a wealthy of characters, and The Red Palace is no exception. What might be helpful to her readers is a list of characters at the front of the novel and a map of the palace buildings and compounds might also have been useful. 

The Red Palace is another wonderful novel, offering readers a unique cultural setting to explore. Overall, another stellar offering from this Korean-Canadian author. Readers will be awaiting Hur's next offering with great anticipation!!

Book Details:

The Red Palace by June Hur
New York: Feiwell and Friends     2022
321 pp.

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

It is 1426, five years after the events in the ancient Gotjawal Forest. Eighteen-year-old Hwani is travelling to Nowon village on Jeju Island, a penal island for political prisoners.   She is disguised as a man and is travelling with her father's badly burned five-stitched black notebook. It was sent to her by a stranger named Boksun. How does Boksun know her father and why has she sent her the journal?

Hwani's father, Detective Min has disappeared on the island.Commander Ki told Hwani that her father had gone to Jeju to investigate the disappearance of several girls.

On the boat travelling from Mokpo port to Jeju, Hwani meets a middle-aged man who questions her about her journey. Without revealing her identity, she tells him that relatives of Detective Min have asked her to investigate his disappearance. He warns Hwani that she shouldn't listen to the rumours from the peasants in the village about their missing daughters. Hwani learns that this man is Magistrate Hong. He tells her that he told Detective Min that they girls were all pretty, tired of poverty and likely ran away to escape their lives.

Hwani wonders if she's been foolish in coming to Jeju. Commander Ki had declared her father dead after a twelve month investigation in which only the left sleeve of his outer robe had been recovered in Gotjawal Forest. She wonders though, why her father would care about this case since it's outside of his jurisdiction. But the note left in his chamber, questioning if a man can "undo his errors? Undo his sins?" bothers her.

Hwani becomes lost trying to find her way across Jeju Island to Nowon village. After asking an old woman for directions, Hwani asks about the village. The old woman tells her that thirteen girls have gone mission in the past four years but that recently an elderly resident saw the missing thirteenth girl running through the woods near Seonhul village. The girl, Hyunok did not return back to her parents ask expected and the woman thinks she may be dead.

With the old woman's directions, Hwani is able to remember the location of the shaman's hut. Hwani lived in Nowon for the first thirteen years of her life. She would visit Shaman Nokyung, the woman whom her sister Maewol was taken to by their father five years earlier at age ten.

When Hwani arrives at the jeomjip, the shaman tells her about a witness claiming to have seen one of the girls being taken by a man in a white mask. This immediately calls to mind the Forest Incident in which Hwani and her sister were found in the forest unconscious next to a dead girl. While Hwani remembers nothing, her sister saw a man in a white mask.  The shaman tells Hwani that her father returned to Jeju because he believed that Maewol as a witness, from the Forest Incident might be in danger. He hoped to solve the case. The shaman advises Hwani to return home, get married and live her life, that her father is dead.

However, later that evening the villagers arrive at the shaman's hut, asking that Shaman Nokyung come with them to Mount Halla where the body of the missing thirteenth girl has been found. Instead, Maewol and Hwani go. The victim's sister, Koh Iseul tells Hwani that a villager named Chul discovered Hyunok. They find her at the base of a cliff, face up. When Hwani and a man named Scholar Yu examine the body they find that Hyunok had been bound at the wrists and ankles.

As Hwani continues to investigate she learns from Maewol what really happened in the forest five years previous. She also begins to develop a list of potential suspects that include Convict Baek who was tied to Hyunok's family through a debt they owed him, Shaman Nokyung, Village Elder Moon who seems to have not been able to find enough evidence to convince the magistrate to act and Magistrate Hong who refuses to act.

But when Hwani with the help of Maewol begin to close in on the truth, events turn deadly. Can Hwani save herself, her sister and the missing girls?

Discussion

The Forest of Stolen Girls is the sequel to Hur's first novel, The Silence of the Bones. Set in fifteenth century Korea, the novel has as its basis the practice of human tribute, a practice in Asia of acknowledging a country's preeminence (usually but not restricted to China) through the payment of tribute. Hur explains the concept and practice very well in her Historical Note at the back of the novel. In thirteen-century Goryeo dynasty-era Korea, tribute was paid to the Mongol empire who ruled the country. Horses, fur and over two thousand Korean maidens were taken against their will as a form of tribute. When Mongul rule was followed by the Ming Dynasty in China, countries wishing to have a formal relationship with China were required to continue the tradition of paying the tribute. Korea was one of several countries who entered the tribute system. Once again, young Korean girls and women were taken against their will to the Ming dynasty. This practice in Korea ended in 1435.

Hur uses the practice of tribute as the event that triggers a series of disappearances and murders, including that of Hwani and Maewol's father, Detective Min. The story is a complex one that Hur adeptly weaves, leading readers to a thrilling resolution.The story is told by Hwani, a determined, intelligent young woman who amazingly survives attempted murder, poisoning by arsenic and a kidnapping. 

Set against the main story of Hwani attempting to determine her father's fate and unravel the connection between the missing girls and her family's encounter in the forest five years previous, is the devastating effect the tribute had on families in Korea. Families hid their young daughters, especially those who were considered very beautiful, father's scarred the faces of their beautiful daughters as Village Elder Moon had done, and bribes were offered to emissaries to save beloved daughters from the terrible fate. This later situation resulted in another girl being chosen to take her place. This is the situation Hwani uncovers in the village of Nowon.

A subplot is the sibling rivalry between Hwani and her younger sister, Maewol, supposedly abandoned by their father twice; once in the Forest Incident and then subsequently when it is believed she has a calling to be a shaman. This abandonment has resulted in the sisters not trusting one another when they are first reunited with Hwani's visit to Nowon. However, as they spend more time together, Hwani and Maewol begin to accept each other. Hwani, always believing their father loved her more, begins to realize that her father also deeply loved his younger daughter Maewol too. Together they solve the case of the missing girls and discover the fate of their father.

The Forest of Stolen Girls is highly recommended to fans of historical fiction as it explores a historical period in a country not often written about. As with her first novel, Hur does an excellent job of portraying fifteenth century Korea, populating her story with believable characters and creating exciting situations that engage the reader. The Forest of Stolen Girls has been nominated for the White Pine Award. 

Book Details:

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur
New York: Fiewel and Friends Book      2021
369 pp.

The Silence Of Bones by June Hur

Sixteen-year-old Seol is working as a damo, an indentured servant, for the police bureau in Hanyang, the capital of Joseon. She has been indentured for her entire lifetime, until she is forty-one years of age. Seol's father was said to have died of starvation while her mother died jumping off a cliff near the sea. At the age of seven, Seol was the family servant of the Nams. Seol was the nobi servant of Lord Paek who sold her to a nearby police bureau in Inchon. Four days after her indenture at the police bureau, Seol tried to escape and was caught and branded on the left cheek with Hanja character, bi which means female servant. She had made a promise to Older Sister to stay in Hanyang and find their brother's grave. Her older brother Inho had promise to write her but the letters stopped and he is now presumed dead.

The novel opens with Seol aiding in the investigation of the body of a woman, found face down, next to the wall that encloses Hanyang. She is ordered by Inspector Han to look at the corpse. Men are forbidden by Confucious's law from touching women not directly related to them. This is why the Capital Police bureau have female servants like Seol.

The woman's silk clothing with richly embroidered hem and sleeves indicates she is a noble. Seol notes she has been stabbed in the neck, but Inspector Han observes that the woman's norigae, a tassel-like ornament and a jewel pin still in her hair, remain. This means the motive for the murder was not robbery.  In her examination, Seol finds that the knife belonging to the silver paedo knotted to the norigae is missing and is found beneath the victim's left shoulder. It is the murder weapon. The woman's identification tag, required by law of everyone in the Joseon kingdom, indicates she was Lady O, daughter of Cabinet Minister O and only nineteen-years-old.

Seol accompanies Inspector Han to the Northern District, home to high ranking officials in Hanyang. Lord O is not home and Matron Kim is ill but the gate keeper reluctantly lets them in. Inspector Han has Seol interview Lady O's personal maid, Soyi. In the inner mansion Seol questions Soyi who tells her that she saw a man in her mistress's room. Soyi, who was taught to read by Lady O, tells Seol about a letter that arrived yesterday morning before her death. The letter told Lady O to meet at the Hour of the Rat. The writer instructed Lady O to burn the letter. 

In the Capital Police Bureau, Seol is instructed by Officer Kyon to lift the body of Lady O onto the table. Kyon tells Seol that all the corpses in the past week were moved to another region by Commander Yi to avoid autopsy, and their killers acquitted or lightly punished. This is because they were all Catholics, followers of the forbidden Western teaching which could result in execution. Seol wonders, "What was it about this teaching called Catholicism that terrorized the culprits enough to kill their own servants, their own children?" 

Eavesdropping outside the examination room Seol listens as Damo Hyeyeon conducts the autopsy. Lady O's death occured around midnight. Despite the watchman patrolling, the killer took the time to cut off her nose. Commander Yi believes the murder was one of vengeance.

Seol accompanies Officer Kyon and Inspectory Han to Mount Inwang where Maid Soyi has fled. Inspector Han located Soyi but they encounter a tiger. When Officer Kyon freezes, Seol grabs his weapon and shoots the tiger in the side. This causes her pony, Terror to bolt with the tiger in pursuit, throwing Seol down an embankment and knocking her senseless. When she awakes, Seol encounters a mysterious lady dressed as a man.The lady tells Seol that they passed the officers earlier who mentioned they were missing a damo. She indicates that if Seol wishes to flee she may do so, as she does not believe in indentured servitude, since this is a form of oppression. But Seol tells her she will return to the police bureau. The woman mystifies Seol who notices that she carries a beaded necklace with a misshapen wooden cross.

Back at the police bureau, Inspector Han gives Seol a norigae and promises that when the investigation is over, he will giver her what she most wants, to return home. The next morning, Seol is informed that Inspector Han is now interrogating Soyi after Commander Yi had her beaten for running away. During questioning Soyi tells Inspector Han that she saw a man on horseback wearing a blue robe just before dawn. After Soyi is taken back to the prison block, Seol is questioned by Master Ch'oi Jinyeop, the son of Third State Councillor Ch'oi. He was betrothed to Lady O when they were children.The young master was at the House of Bright Flowers and has an alibi.

Seol visits Maid Soyi in her prison cell to help clean her wounds. Soyi tells Seol that Lady O promised to give her her nobi deed, freeing her because she was a rogue Catholic who didn't believe in the indentured system. She believes Lady O's lover murdered her. As she leaves the police bureau, Seol is summoned to meet Lady Kang at her mansion in the Northern District by her servant, Woorim. Lady Kang is concerned that Seol may have told the inspector about the books in her cart when they met in the forest. These books are copies of one book. Kang tells Seol that she in convinced the Heavenly Father loves her. Seol knows Lady Kang to be a Catholic and when she questions her about the recent deaths of many Catholics, Lady Kang tells her that they were people who refused to apostatize this foreign learning" but that after the five month formal mourning period before the king's burial, there will be a persecution. Every five households will be grouped together and if a Catholic is found in any one, all will be found guilty of treason. It will not only wipe out the Catholics but also the queen regent's opposition as well. She tells Seol that the "Southern scholar-officials were among the first to spread Catholicism when it was smuggled in." While it was spread as a way to reform society, the regent believes it to be a way to regain power in the government. Lady Kang advises Seol to be careful, that she should not jump to conclusions, to examine the evidence, and that she has a responsibility to care for lives. Lady Kang tells Seol she can read people and warns her that when she needs help, to seek her out.

Back at the police bureau, Inspector Han  meets with Commander Yi who asks him about Councillor Ch'oi's visit.  Councillor Ch'oi fears the regent's intent to purge the Southerners. He wants protection and is willing to obtain it by capturing the only priest of Joeseon, Zhou Wenmo. However, Inspector Han has no intention of letting Ch'oi help in the priest's capture.

That night, Officer Kyon brutally attacks Seol, punishing her for shaming him in the forest, by shooting the tiger. He also reveals that he has testimony from an eyewitness that "Inspector Han was the blue-robed man who crossed paths with Maid Soyi." This revelation stuns Seol who has developed a deep loyalty to the inspector. Filled with disbelief, Seol seeks to prove Inspector Han's innocence, but this only leads to more questions and intrigue.

As things become more complicated with another murder, Seol soon has a host of potential suspects and a startling discovery about Inspector Han to consider. But can she uncover the truth before another murder happens?

Discussion

The Secret Of Bones is a complex and engaging murder mystery set in the Joseon era of Korea. The novel weaves together a collection of stories, linked by the murder of a young Catholic woman in the city of Hanyang. There is the story of Lady O, the daughter of Madam Kim and Councillor O who has been murdered and who is a Catholic but who had a secret lover and bore an illegitimate child. There is the story of Seol, whose parents are both dead, and who is now an indentured servant in the police bureau in Hanyang, but who is also determined to find her older brother Inchon who left almost twelve years earlier. There is the story of Inspector Han, who seems to be implicated in the murder he's investigating and who also seems to be possibly connected to Seol. And there is the story of a young man, the illegitimate son of a Councillor, who seeks to repudiate his shame by hunting down a Catholic priest and therefore restoring some honour to his name.

This novel would have done well to have offered readers a bit of backstory to the Joseon kingdom in the form of a prologue, as it's unlikely most teens or adults will be familiar with this era. However, Hur does incorporate  the main points of Catholic history into her story, through her characters.

The Joseon Dynasty was founded near the end of the fourteenth century when General Yi SEong-gye overthrew the Goryeo dynasty and founded a new one. The Joseon dynasty was based out of the city of Hanyang which today is called Seoul. It was chosen as the capital by King Taejo who was responsible for building Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Jongmyo Shrine. He also adopted the use of identification tags called hopae.

As Hur indicates in her Author's Note at the back, the story is set just prior to the Shinyu Bakhae of 1801, the first major persecution of Catholics in Korea. During the Joseon Dynasty, Korean society was based on Confucianism which stressed certain virtues such as loyalty, and duty as well as ancestor worship. Society in Korea was comprised of the nobility and scholars, with most Koreans being commoners or slaves.

Catholicism was brought to Korea, not by priests, but by the laity, sometime during the 17th century. Despite being a very isolated kingdom, Korean scholars were exposed to Catholicism through literature they obtained from China. European missionaries brought Catholic books which were translated to China. Because Catholicism presented a different social structure with a de-emphasis on class and no adherance to ancestral worship, it was seen as a threat to Korean society and was outlawed in the Kingdom of Joseon in 1758 by King Yeongjo. By 1776, western books were banned.

Despite this, Catholicism grew. In 1784, Peter Yi Seung-hun became the first Korean to be baptized into the Catholic faith, travelling to Peking, China to receive the sacrament.  He returned to Korea and began evangelizing his countrymen, and despite having no priest to minister to them, the community grew. In 1791, the first Catholics were executed and martyred for their faith, because they refused to perform the ancestral rites. 

When a priest finally did arrive in the Kingdom of Joseon, there were over four thousands Catholics. The first Catholic missionary, Father Chou Wen-Mu (Father Zhou Wenmo) arrived in Seoul, in 1795. Within six months, Father Wenmo was actively being pursued by the authorities and so Lady Kang Wansuk helped to hide him. By the turn of the century, there were over ten thousand Catholics in Korea.

The novel is set after 1791 and just prior to the coming persecution known as the Sinyu Persecution. Several of the characters The Secret of Bones were real, historical figures; Queen Jeongsun, Lady Kang and Father Zhou Wenmo. Queen Jeongsun had married King Yeongjo when she was very young, only fifteen years old. When he died she became Queen Dowager Yesun. When King Yeongjo's son, Yi San died at the age of forty-nine, his son, Yi Gong was to be come king but he was only ten years old. Queen Jeongsun became Grand Queen Dowager, acting as regent for the young king. It was Queen Jeongsun who began the Sinyu Persecution in 1801. The persecution may have been partially instigated by a letter sent and intercepted, asking for Western military intervention in Joseon. In the novel, Lady Kang's daughter Sunhui refers to this letter as the "Silk Letter". 

The main character, Seol is a well crafted heroine: determined, courageous and loyal. It is her relentless pursuit of the truth that drives the investigation forward, ultimately placing her in mortal danger. Unknowingly, her pursuit of the truth also leads her through a voyage of self discovery, forcing her to face her family's past and how what happened may now be playing a part in the events of the present.  It is a story of retribution, revenge and forgiveness. Because there are four or five storylines woven together, this gives the author plenty of opportunity to incorporate unexpected twists into the plot, which keeps her readers fully engaged. 

Overall, The Secret of Bones is a well written novel, complex with many layers to the plot. A map of the city of Hanyang and the outlying areas might help readers and a more attractive cover might be worth reconsidering, to draw readers into this gem of a novel. Look for more in the future from this accomplished Korean-Canadian author.

Book Details:

The Secret of Bones by June Hur
New York: Feiwel and Friends   2020
320 pp.