Lead Review

• Book: Beasts of a Little Land
• Location: South Korea
• Author: Juhea Kim

Review Author: tripfiction

Beasts of a Little Land is a very powerful book. It describes a family who, distraught by the fear of famine in their village, send their nine year old daughter, Jade, to become a apprentice courtesan ay Madame Silver’s academy in Pyongyang. After a brutal and tragic incident, Jade – and two other girls, Luna and Lotus – are moved to Seoul to continue their apprenticeships. In Seoul Jade forms an unlikely friendship with JungHo, an orphan who begs and steals on the streets. and runs a mini protection racket. The three girls all develop and shine in their individual ways – Jade becomes a famous actress. JungHo too progresses in life and status and develops an everlasting love for Jade, but she loves him only as a dear friend. Meanwhile she falls deeply in love with a student, HanChoi, who drives a rickshaw to help fund his studies.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, Korea is brutally occupied by Japan. The occupation becomes harsher as the years go by. Yet it is possible to thrive. HanChoi becomes a bicycle repair man, then a car mechanic, and finally the successful owner of Korea’s first car factory. JungHo chooses a different path. He becomes part of a communist cell determined to rid Korea of the Japanese by force as necessary. Jade’s career blooms and then fades as she gets older. Yet the paths of all three, and of the other members of Jade’s courtesan ‘family’ keep intertwining. They all end up in very different places to where they started out – and not where they expected to be. There is joy and there is sadness.

Beasts of a Little Land is an epic and colourful tale set against an extraordinary background. In the early part of the 20th Century there was turmoil in Korea – at the same time there were great technological advances. The Japanese kept their iron like grip on the country. But civil society was developing around them. Then, in 1945, ‘freedom’ appeared as the Japanese were defeated at the end of World War II. Only it was not really freedom for all. The Russians sweeping down from the North, and the Americans sweeping up from the South, met at the 38th Parallel – and the country was divided into North Korea and South Korea. A little like Germany sixteen years later, family and friends were separated. Jade, now alone in life, could not travel North to visit her ailing mother.

Beasts of a Little Land is an extremely well written book. The characters are well developed, believable, and sensitively written. And what, for me, was important was the knowledge I gained of the place and time in which it is set. This is historical fiction at its very best.

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