The Calligrapher's Daughter
73. Eugenia Kim, The Calligrapher's Daughter
The main character of this novel was born without a name; she was simply the daughter of Han, a prominent Korean calligrapher. She eventually receives the name Najin, after her mother’s hometown, from an American missionary who meets the Han family every Sunday at the local Methodist church. This novel is the story of Najin’s coming-of-age in a rapidly changing Korea. She is the daughter of a very traditional father who clings to the old Confucian ways, but also of a mother who has embraced Christianity and dreams of an education for her daughter. Najin struggles to find her place in a modern world while maintaining respect for her heritage, even as the Japanese occupiers of Korea threaten the stability of her homeland.
This book opened up a new world for me; I’ve hardly read anything about Korea or Asia more generally, so I was fascinated to read about Najin’s experiences. I learned a lot about Korean history and culture; the novel definitely does a wonderful job of evoking the customs and manners of early-20th-century Korea. I also found Najin to be a very sympathetic heroine. She is smart and driven, and she has a lot of modern sensibilities, yet she still respects her country’s traditions and finds many Western habits rude and strange. I enjoyed reading about a world that is very foreign to me, and I would definitely recommend this novel to people who want to immerse themselves in another culture.