A delightful five-star read! Set in the era when King Jeongjo issued a strict import ban on Chinese fiction and carried out extensive censorship of the writings of Joseon scholars in 1972. Main character Haewon is the second daughter in her family. She loves to read fiction and works as an illegal book transcriber. One of her favorite authors that she transcribes for happens to be a noble, Seojun. He has status, and his family is well respected. No one knows that he is the man behind the pen name Black Lotus. These two keep meeting and are thrown together when Haewon's sister Jade enters a courtship with Seojun's friend. Both quickly judged the other, but as they spend more time together, perhaps they judged wrong? The nod to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was done so well in this book. It was romantic, with suspense and danger. I enjoyed reading this book so much, as stated before five stars!
Description
From the New York Times-bestselling author of A Crane Among Wolves comes a warm and romantic homage to Jane Austen set in historical Korea, about a reader and a writer who secretly fight against government book banning and find themselves irresistibly drawn together.
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 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 scandalous: 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...
Also by June Hur
The Silence of Bones
The Forest of Stolen Girls
The Red Palace
A Crane Among Wolves
Amazon reviews Katereviews.
I received this egalley from NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends. I was under no obligation to give a review. All opinions are my own.
