For readers of White Chrysanthemum and Beloved, this feminist historical novel examines women’s lives under empire, colonialism, patriarchy, and inherited trauma with a Gothic sensibility reminiscent of the movie, Pan’s Labyrinth.
This linked-story novel follows six women named Mari across East Asia between 1932 and 1935, each from different backgrounds yet bound by the same violent historical forces. Set in colonial Korea, Shanghai, Tokyo, Manchuria, Hawai‘i, and a remote Korean village, the novel
portrays women repeatedly harmed by imperial power, political upheaval, and patriarchy. A teenage noblewoman in Seoul dies and returns as a ghost after her forbidden affection is exposed. A young aristocrat journeys to Shanghai to join the independence movement, guided past a Japanese inspector by a mysterious stranger. In Tokyo, a lady-in-waiting sent to arrange a political marriage for a Korean prince is haunted by an urge to kill him and expose his identity.
Historical figures from a Korean patriotic martyr and the last royal family of Korea to a Qing-dynasty spy and Liliʻuokalani appear throughout, making history an active force rather than a backdrop. Gothic and surreal elements like ghosts, spirits, and social practices through colonial rule and patriarchal order show how historical violence endures in everyday life. From differing destinies, the six Maris assert one truth: no one stands outside history, and though women bear its heaviest weight, they do not surrender.