Behind Five Willows by June Hur
As the dutiful second-eldest daughter of a poor family, society would have Haewon believe that her only hope of a decent life is to marry well. But during a time of rampant government censorship and book banning, she instead works as an illegal book transcriber in order to make a little extra money. It’s dangerous work, but she loves it―especially when she gets to transcribe the work of her favorite author, known as Black Lotus.
When her older sister becomes smitten with a wealthy young gentleman, Haewon is roped into chaperoning them during their courtship. Which wouldn’t be so terrible... if it weren’t for the young man’s uptight and annoying best friend who also accompanies them.
As the only son of a noble, Seojun has a lot expected of him. Wealth. Status. Respectability. Certainly not frivolous and often illicit activities such as reading fiction. But Seojun loves to do something even more writing. He’s kept his work secret from his father and friends, but with each passing day, the pressure of being his father’s son and the dispiriting actions of the government make Seojun question the purpose of it all. The only thing keeping him going are the encouraging letters he receives from his transcriber, known only as Magpie.
When his best friend falls hard for a girl of lower social status, Seojun finds himself forced to act as chaperone to the infatuated couple―along with the girl's younger sister, who is as irritating as she is judgmental. But as Haewon and Seojun spend more time together, they begin to suspect they may have judged each other too quickly...
Review: When I saw this book described as Pride and Prejudice meets You've Got Mail but set in historical Korea, I don't think I was expecting it to deliver on this level! This was absolutely delightful.
Haewon is the dutiful second-eldest daughter of a poor family who believes her only hope is to marry well. But in the world of late 1700s Korea, government censorship and book banning is rampant, and she finds work as an illegal book transcriber. She loves her work, especially when she gets to transcribe the books of her favorite author, Black Lotus. When Haewon's older sister develops feelings for a wealthy young man, Haewon must tag along as chaperone, which is fine, except his best friend is insufferable.
Seojun is the only son of a noble and has been conditioned his whole life to pursue wealth, status, and respectability. No one in his family knows he is a secret author. While he questions the lifestyle his father expects of him, he is buoyed by the letters he receives from his transcriber, known only as Magpie.
This was so romantic and full of yearning while still being so beautifully and fully Young Adult. WHY can't we have more YA novels like this?? This was beautifully written, content appropriate, informs without lecturing, sacrifices nothing in terms of maturity and yet is still a beautiful historical romance for a young reader.
This honestly made me wish I knew more about the history of Korea during this time period. The book banning was wild - and also so relatable and appropriate to similar motions happening in today's world. The edict that marriageable women must marry by a certain date was also shocking to contemplate. The restrictions of this society, with malicious gossip enough to ruin a woman's prospects and disgrace a family, dovetailed so nicely with the original Pride and Prejudice story, which also focuses on a restrictive social world.
This book felt so true to the original Jane Austen novel and yet was also MORE. Austen fans will recognize the Bennett family in Haewon's parents and sisters, her rash judgement of Seojun, and the impetuous actions of the youngest sister that threaten the family. Seojun is contemptuous of Haewon's family, just like Mr. Darcy. So many little elements from the classic folded into this but yet somehow fully unique and Korean.
I absolutely loved the addition of reading and writing as they figured in this story: "give her a novel, a window to look out, for the walls that hide her are too high to scale." I love how much our main characters love to read and write and secretly fight against their government, intentionally breaking the rules, in pursuit of this interest and freedom of speech within their society. The scene where they finally know who each other is, in both their true names and aliases! It was my favorite scene in the book! And the way they recognize each other by reverting back to writing and recognizing the familiarity of each other's handwriting and reconciling it with each other's true faces and names! It killed me. Love.
I listened to the audio of this book, which was well done. But I do regret not reading it in physical copy. I think I missed out on so many physical quotes that I would have liked to flag or write down. I also struggled a bit with the Korean names, although there aren't a ton, and couldn't readily google anything I heard to learn more about the time period or setting because I was lost in terms of spelling.
Stars: 4.5
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