There’s always a profound heaviness attached to writing about historical events where so many suffered. Korean author Jiyoung Han handles it skilfully in her debut. Beginning in 1902 on a mountain in the Empire of Korea and ending in 1990’s Tokyo, ‘Honey in the Wound’ follows a Korean family’s life under Japanese imperial rule. The novel blends folklore with history and sees each woman in the family possess a unique gift that is used to resist oppression. At the centre of the novel is Young-Ja, who can alter people’s emotions through the taste of her cooking. After her family is killed by Japanese soldiers, she is recruited by Korean rebel fighters to use her power for resistance, but the peril does not end there. With beautiful depictions of nature and horrifying scenes of persecution, Jiyoung Han uses magic realism to investigate intergenerational pain and unlock the voices that history has silenced

. IM

Published by 

Manilla Press