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The Calligrapher's Daughter

by Eugenia Kim (Goodreads Author)

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 2,585 ratings · 516 reviews

A sweeping debut novel, inspired by the life of the author’s mother, about a young woman who dares to fight for a brighter future in occupied Korea

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 tradit...more

Hardcover, 386 pages

Published August 4th 2009 by Henry Holt and Co. (first published 2009)

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The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim

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Dec 17, 2012 Chrissie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hf, korea, bio, text-checked, japan

I do not recommend this book. If I ask myself what I think of it, my response is: Yeah well, it was OK. I have no enthusiasm. I have no urge to try and convince you to pick it up. You can learn a bit from the book. There are some interesting facts about Korean history, but you can just as well skim Wikipedia. A book of historical fiction is supposed to make history come alive. The book doesn’t do that.

If you choose to read this book you must be aware that the religious content is a very central...more

8 likes · like · see review

Aug 22, 2012 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the story of a Korean family struggling through the decades leading up to and including WW II. It specifically follows the daughter of a traditional Korean scholar.

There are several themes...

1. The loss of cultural identity as Japan absorbs Korea and attacks China.

2. The loss of traditional Korean family values between the generation of the father and that of the daughter.

3. A crisis of faith. The protagonists are Christian and believe their suffering to be part of a plan, which over...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 13, 2011 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Anyone who has been reading my reviews knows I love historical fiction. Some of my favorite historical novels are based on some actual event, educate me about places and times that I know very little about, and are both well written and well researched. The Calligrapher’s Daughter by Eugenia Kim fits all the above mentioned criteria. Based in part on the experiences of Kim’s own mother, The Calligrapher’s Daughter opens in the early twentieth century Korea, at the end of the Joseon Dynasty. Naji...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Mitch Jp rated it 3 of 5 stars

The author may have refrained from providing too many details to spare her family; often when writers use personal or family stories for inspiration, they may choose to omit certain details to maintain dignity or confidentiality. Unfortunately if those omissions are not handled correctly, they become prominent aberrations in a story as is the case here.

Eugenia Kim made a worthy attempt to tell a compelling story, and I found the information about Korea fascinating. References to World War II imm...more

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Jan 20, 2012 ruzmarì rated it 3 of 5 stars

Eugenia Kim's novel transports us into Japan-occupied Korea, in the first half of a twentieth century that is sometimes only familiar because of the dates she uses as chapter headings. Kim does an excellent job portraying this lost culture as a bygone way of life, even a bygone place : the dynasty that has ruled the country for centuries is dissolving, then ultimately collapses altogether when Korea's last king is assassinated. The main character, Najin Han – who gets her name from her mother's...more Eugenia Kim's novel transports us into Japan-occupied Korea, in the first half of a twentieth century that is sometimes only familiar because of the dates she uses as chapter headings. Kim does an excellent job portraying this lost culture as a bygone way of life, even a bygone place : the dynasty that has ruled the country for centuries is dissolving, then ultimately collapses altogether when Korea's last king is assassinated. The main character, Najin Han – who gets her name from her mother's place of origin, since her father refuses to give her a first name upon her birth – lives and narrates the steady crumbling of her family's prestige and wealth, the traditions of a dynastic culture, and the demise of a political regime, all through a feminine lens. She, in a deftly wrought complication of emotional prose, proves herself a woman of valor while accepting her role as secondary to her good-for-nothing brother, Ilsun (who is himself nonetheless written with pathos and depth). Through her eyes we see the collapse of the royal family, the famine and poverty under Japanese rule, and the wrenching loss of her own family's estate and traditions.

Najin has a creative and courageous spirit, and the novel shows her over and over again unafraid to take risks. Most of these are for the purpose of saving herself (from an arranged marriage, from a set of abusive and manipulative in-laws). Sometimes she is forced to pull herself up sharply when she realizes that a risk she has taken has put her entire family and their way of life in jeopardy. She frequently finds herself torn between what her family's and culture's ancient traditions demand of Korean women, and what she sees as possibilities for a new life in an increasingly changed and modern world that is so much wider than Korea.

The novel is mostly well crafted and enjoyable, its heroine/narrator someone we want alternately to cheer on, hug, or fight for. We are frustrated when Najin is frustrated; we feel her shame when she finds herself rebuffed once again by a father whose rigid traditions and participation in the Korean resistance make him unable to see his daughter as a valid subject; we itch when she does, to have her abilities and accomplishments taken seriously in a society dominated by and constructed around the abilities and accomplishments of men. It is a great portrait of a modern woman and her struggle to exist in a world not quite ready for her. And yet, it is not a great novel, and that's the perplexing piece. It might be because it simply too long, and the author gets lost in the complexities of her own creation. Each section reads vividly, but the pacing is uneven, the prose occasionally limpid and occasionally far too dense, and the character developments are not as believable as we would like them to be. (The Princess, for example, is a fabulous intervention, but I don't for a second believe that Najin manages to stifle the independent spirit that rankles in her father's house to become essentially a lady-in-waiting with court manners.) Then, Kim occasionally dangles a thrilling plot possibility, only to get distracted and drop it. Calvin, Najin's husband, apparently writes her dozens, hundreds, thousands of letters during the time he is in seminary in America while she lives as indentured domestic labor for his parents and a pettily competitive other daughter-in-law … but though we see the gigantic stack of letters, it is swiftly whisked away and Najin never even asks why she did not receive them. The letters offer a possibility for narrative cohesion (maybe the other daughter-in-law intercepted them, to increase Najin's isolation?), but Kim does not follow through, just hints at the letters' being confiscated for some obscure reason. Which is certainly believable, but not satisfying.

That's perhaps the main problem with the book : it takes creative liberties with reality on large points (for example, Calvin's and Najin's mysterious reconnection after the war; Ilsun's wife's convenient death by consumption), but leaves the small ones, the ones where a reader could be convinced to continue suspending disbelief, dangling. At the end of the novel, we have a sort of patchwork of female experience over fifty years, first in the heartbreakingly settling ashes of a dying regime, then in the postwar rubble as a country tries to rebuild itself. The thread that carries us through Najin's childhood to her hard-won education and life as an adult woman in a household of her own should act as a guide through the labyrinth of a place and system so foreign that most American readers will not recognize even the first thing about it. Instead, it is a thread we sometimes have to build ourselves. A good read indeed, but with reservations.(less)

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Jan 14, 2012 Book Concierge rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5***

This historical novel tells the story of a young woman, her yangban (aristocratic) family and the people of Korea, from 1915 to 1945 (during the time of the Japanese occupation and annexation of Korea). Han Najin has known a life of privilege, but has always felt constrained by the bonds of tradition and the expectations of society towards a young woman of her class. She is bright and resourceful, and matures to be an obedient and dutiful daughter – to a point. She will not marry at age 14...more

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Apr 16, 2011 Patricia Callegari rated it 5 of 5 stars

Some reviewers have written that this book starts too slowly, but I was captivated from the opening sentence, "I learned I had no name on the same day I learned fear."

At the heart of the story, told from several points of view, is Najin, the calligrapher's daughter. Though headstrong and ambitious, she is bound in ways Westerners cannot understand to family and tradition.

Based loosely on the lives of her parents, the author has fashioned a story that seamlessly weaves a tapestry of ancient &...more

7 likes · like · see review

Dec 08, 2010 Felice rated it 3 of 5 stars

The intimate story of the novel is the life of the unnamed daughter of a successful calligrapher. Coming as she did with the Japanese so to speak the daughter is viewed by her father Han as a shame brought on the family and Han refuses to name the girl. As the Japanese take over more and more of the government, police and culture in Korea, Han becomes bitter and resentful. He is an artist and activist, a scholar who struggles to recapture Korea's glory and independence.

Najin's life, as the daugh...more

3 likes · like · see review

Sep 07, 2010 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-reading-list

All I knew about pre Korean-War history was, well, nothing. So I found myself doing research on the side as I'm apt to do when reading about an unfamiliar place or time. But the lack of knowledge didn't hurt when reading this book, the story of early 20th century Korea comes out through the unnamed daughter, Najin, and her family & friends.

It's beautiful. Hauntingly and achingly beautiful. Najin seems so real - conflicted about everything - tradition vs progress, love vs freedom, so forth a...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 22, 2010 Kate Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Kirsten Gallagher

Shelves: 2010, library

When visiting the library with my 1.5 year old daughter this book caught my eye in the 'Quick Pick' section. I've previously read and enjoyed several Asia based books so assumed I would like this one as well.

Most of the book is written in the style of an autobiography, but there are sections from the view points of other characters as well. It was enjoyable to read, but slow to get in to as not much happened for the first third; in my mind this is fine for an autobiography, but from fiction I wa...more

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Jan 26, 2010 Belinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

What I learned is that I have had it way too easy in my Western lifestyle, chock full of running water, indoor plumbing, no fear of occupation by a brutal nation, and not supressed by a patriarchial society that prizes obedience, servitude, and humility in its women. Whew.

Having said (typed) all that, I'm fascinated by women who live in these cultures and find ways to survive and even thrive. "Thousand Splendid Suns", "Memoirs of a Geisha", and "Wild Swans" are other books I've read with similar...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 13, 2009 Christine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Soft, gentle prose shapes an unnamed girl’s story as she endures a diminished pedigree, loss of hopes and home together with a failed marriage during the Japanese occupation of Korea in Eugenia Kim's The Calligrapher's Daughter.

A traditional, upperclass Korean man, the girl’s father shows his disappointment at the birth of a daughter, by declining to name her when her birth coincides with the fall of Korea to the Japanese. Najin, as the girl comes to be nicknamed at age eight, struggles to under...more

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 12, 2009 Tara Chevrestt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: women-that-really-existed-fiction, historical-fiction, blew-me-away-list, korean-history-culture

This is truly a heartwarming and lovely tale, one of those novels that touches you in such a way, you hate for it to end. It is story of a Korean girl and her mother, a story of a proud nation battling the aggressiveness of another, a story of a man coming to understand and accept that old ways and lifestyle must change, and a story of love that survives many hardships. All these stories in one magnificent novel. The Korean girl, Najin, is growing up in a very Confucian household. Her mother, ho...more

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Aug 02, 2009 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: borders-original-voices

I was fortunate to be able to snag an advanced reader copy of this book, which is an interesting, quasi-biographical novel. The setting of the story is Korea (before there was a North and a South), roughly during the period of the Japanese colonization from ~1910 to the end of the Second World War. Prior to reading the book, I knew of the inflictions of the Japanese on the Koreans during the war (e.g., the comfort women), but admit to complete ignorance of Japan's colonization (morphing to occup...more I was fortunate to be able to snag an advanced reader copy of this book, which is an interesting, quasi-biographical novel. The setting of the story is Korea (before there was a North and a South), roughly during the period of the Japanese colonization from ~1910 to the end of the Second World War. Prior to reading the book, I knew of the inflictions of the Japanese on the Koreans during the war (e.g., the comfort women), but admit to complete ignorance of Japan's colonization (morphing to occupation, although it appears to have been a fine & nasty line) of Korea for such a long period before the war.

The author, an American of Korean ancestry, has loosely based her story on her mother's life, which I think gives the novel and the story it tells that much more authenticity and vividness. The main character is a girl, then woman, born in 1905 into a well to do, high class, highly traditional Korean home. Over the course of the novel she is able to gain an education, with the support of her mother and against the wishes of her father, work, and marry - I won't give away the details beyond noting that a particularly interesting element in the book is its depiction of the day-to-day details of Korean life, pre-modernization and during the process of starting to modernize. During that process, as with all modernization, something is gained and something is lost - this is one of the themes of the book, all the while set during a tense and violent time in both Korea and in the world. The story is told primarily from the main character's perspective, first person; however, periodic shifts in perspective to those of her mother, father, and brother, plus inclusions of correspondence to the main character, add further depth to the narrative and to the minor characters as well.

This coming-of-age story is set in a country and culture that is likely not well known to western readers - I have previously read books, fiction and non-fiction, set in China, Singapore, Vietnam, and other Asian Pacific countries, but nothing from Korea. Anyone who wishes to expand knowledge of this area would enjoy this book.(less)

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Dec 22, 2011 Sam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: asia, fiction, historical-fiction, library, literary-fiction, women

Najin Han is born in Korea just as it becomes a colony of Japan in 1910 and grows up in a country that is mourning the loss of its freedom and age-old traditions. Her father clings on to traditional views and customs in the face of rapid change and discrimination, making it hard for Najin to gain an education and employment. As the rule of Japan becomes more oppressive and opportunities for Koreans narrow, Najin must do all she can to support her family and balance her traditional upbringing wit...more Najin Han is born in Korea just as it becomes a colony of Japan in 1910 and grows up in a country that is mourning the loss of its freedom and age-old traditions. Her father clings on to traditional views and customs in the face of rapid change and discrimination, making it hard for Najin to gain an education and employment. As the rule of Japan becomes more oppressive and opportunities for Koreans narrow, Najin must do all she can to support her family and balance her traditional upbringing with Japanese rule and the reality of modern Korea.

The Calligrapher's Daughter is a leisurely read packed full of lovely description. From the winter snow to the rustle of clothes to the smell of cooking, I felt as though Kim had transported me back in time and half way around the world to Korea. Unlike a lot of historical fiction, she used showing rather than telling as her main literary device. Despite not being explicitly told that 'yangban' meant a respected class of people in former Korea, it was easy to guess this through the use of the word. And there was a lot of this trust in the reader to work things out for themselves, which I really liked as it made me feel like an observer to the story, rather than the main reason the story is being told.

Najin was a likeable main character and it was hard as a modern woman not to sympathise with her struggles against her father's traditional views. Najin goes through hardships and good times during the course of the novel and I definitely empathised with her when things were rough. A lot of the story is apparently based on the story of Eugenia Kim's family, which added a bit of weight to the story and my reaction to it.

I do think there were some pacing issues with this novel. It starts with a very slow, leisurely pace which I personally enjoyed as it was like being immersed in Korea at the time and I love the little details in historical fiction. This slow pace continues through most of the book. By the last third, I was used the characters spending time thinking about the events of the novel when suddenly things sped up. I don't know if Kim wanted to finish the book quickly, or convey some kind of urgency, but I found the change in pace and the swiftness of the ending unsettling when compared with the rest of the novel. I still very much enjoyed it, but I felt a bit unsettled after the end.
(less)

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Jan 17, 2010 El rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 21st-centurylit

I'm going to preface this review by admitting that I do not know much about Korean history, and the little bit of personal experience I have comes from what I've learned from the characters Lane Kim and her mother on Gilmore Girls, and from what I understand of the two Korean surgeons where I work.

With that said, I adored this book. It covers 30 years in the life of Najin Han, the daughter of a calligrapher. Her father, the calligrapher, is traditional in all senses of the word and wants to marr...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 26, 2009 Kristin Lee Williams rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: loved-it

I'll tell you the truth about this one: I almost gave it up. The first 1/3 or so of the book is pretty slow moving and I had a hard time getting in to it. Then, all of the sudden, it takes off and turns in to one of the most beautifully moving books I've ever read.

I loved the insight into Korean culture and history. I learned a lot that gave me some new thoughts about the Korea of today. I especially loved the father in the story. He was a difficult, crusty-seeming man but he was losing everyth...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Jana rated it 4 of 5 stars

A friend recommended this book to me because I have a daughter headed to Korea soon. We have hosted several Japanese exchange students in the past 20 years, and have learned a little about their culture. However, there is still a lot I don't know. To learn a bit about the Korean culture, especially during the early 1900's during the Japanese occupation was fascinating to me. Additionally, I was intrigued by this family who was Christian, but still living the Confucian lifestyle "the old ways". I...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 21, 2011 Dawn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, fiction-historical

Not bad, not fantastic, this entry into the quasi-memoir ranks of what I'm starting to think of as "Asian-Chick-Lit" is interesting in that it's set in Korea... the first I've come across.

Ms Kim follows what I find is a common trend, forsaking the details of how cultural and historical happenings effect the people of the time/place, and instead chooses to lean more heavily on the narrative. This is by no means a disappointment, but in a culture that has been influenced by other nations, I cant...more

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Jun 26, 2010 Leah (packfan20) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

In the end, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. It's long and drags a big but the history was interesting and I liked the main character. I love strong, independent females and I really felt like I was cheering on Najin for the whole book. However, I would have taken some stuff out of the middle out of the book so there would have been more at the end. I felt the book cut off too quickly. There were a lot of relgious references, which didn't bother me, but then there were also some...more

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May 21, 2010 Blodeuedd Finland rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction

Another win. This was a great book, and I would recommend it to fans of Wild Swans by Jung Chang, Leaving Mother Lake by Yang Erche Namu & Christine Mathie, and even Memoirs of a geisha by Arthur Golden. I got the same feeling as I got from those books, and not just because those took place in China and Japan, and this one in Korea. No, it was because two of those were about real events, and in this one the author was inspired by her mother's story. There was reality and everyday life. And l...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Kristine Brancolini rated it 4 of 5 stars

Eugenia Kim is an extremely gifted writer and her lyrical prose is perfectly suited to this book based on the life of her mother and her struggles during the 35 years that Korea was occupied by Japan, 1910-1945. These years also correspond to the first 35 years of Najin Han's life.

Kim deftly portrays the radical changes that the Han family went through as their aristocratic way of life was slowly and systematically destroyed by the Japanese. Najin narrates most of the book and through her the r...more

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Apr 01, 2011 Jill rated it 3 of 5 stars

This may be the first book I ever read about life in Korea. The story covers the years of 1920 till after WWII. Here again is another book that shows the experiece of the great war from a different perspective. An interesting if a bit slow story of life in a different culture.

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Jan 29, 2010 Gemma rated it 5 of 5 stars

Review also written for the Amazon Vine Programme.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book and I was hooked from the first few pages. This was just my type of book.
It's set in the early 1900's and we follow Najin from childhood to adulthood and the novel moves along with such a lovely pace. From the innocence of Najin's childhood, through to her struggles in her adulthood I could not put this book down. The whole back drop to this book is how the Japanese slowly tried to take over Korea, and then...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Beverly rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book from page one. It is set in turn-of-the 20th-century Korea and spans 30 years. It is a story about the Han family and their struggles during the Japanese occupation. The characters are well-developed and I found myself loving most and disliking a few. Najin (the daughter) is intelligent, ambitious, brave, headstrong, and resists tradition. I loved her! Najin’s father is stern and has strictly conservative ideas about filial respect and the subjugation of women and also by the p...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Carla rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a story set in Korea just after the turn on the 20th century, until after World War II. It's the story of Nadjin, the first-born of a famous artist/calligrapher. Her father is steeped in the culture and traditions of his country and fiercely resents the annexation and rule of Korea by Japan. He is very traditional and discounts the value of a tomboyish highly intelligent girl. His disdain goes so deep that he fails to choose a name for her or have a naming ceremony on her 100th day as is...more

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Jul 01, 2010 Cynthia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: great-reads

This book is set in pre-World War II Korea during the country's occupation by Japan. I found the setting and time period interesting as I have never read a book set in Korea before. The main character is the daughter of an acclaimed calligrapher who goes without a name for many years because her father is disappointed that she was not the son he hoped for. Her father longs for her to cling to tradition, but she dreams of a career of her own.

I thought this book was a nice study in contrasts. The...more

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May 15, 2011 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Contrary to what many other reviewers think, I felt the best part of this book was the first half. I was really enjoying the plot and pacing until about half way through, when the story started to get a little hokey. The other thing I wasn't crazy about, which seems to be more and more popular these days, is the multiple changes in point of view. When Faulkner did it in The Sound and the Fury, it was unique and purposeful, giving the reader multiple perspectives on situation and character while...more

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Jan 23, 2011 Iris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction

The Calligrapher's Daughter is the story of Najin as she grows from childhood to early adulthood during the turbulent times in Korea at the beginning of the 1900s. Najin is torn pulled between her appreciation for the traditions of old Korea and her desires for education and career. She also struggles with how suffering can be understood, especially as she considers the role suffering seems to play in her mother's Christian faith.

This is a beautifully told story that captured my attention while...more

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About Eugenia Kim

Eugenia Kim is the daughter of Korean immigrant parents who came to America shortly after the Pacific War. She has published short stories and essays in journals and anthologies, including Echoes Upon Echoes: New Korean American Writings, and is an MFA graduate of Bennington College. She teaches fiction in the low-residency MFA Creative Writing Program at Fairfield University. The Calligrapher’s D...more

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