Beasts of a Little Land
South Korea

Beasts of a Little Land

by Juhea Kim

Freedom & Resistance Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction 2021

Summary

In 1917, Korea is under Japanese colonial rule, and the lives of its people are shaped by poverty, violence, and the struggle for independence. When ten-year-old Jade is sold by her desperate family to a courtesan school in Pyongyang, she enters a world where survival depends on learning to navigate rigid social hierarchies. After fleeing to Seoul, she meets JungHo, an orphan boy struggling to survive on the streets. Their bond becomes a defining force in both their lives, even as their paths diverge and JungHo becomes involved in the resistance movement.

Spanning five decades, from the final years of the Korean Empire through colonial occupation and the upheavals of the twentieth century, this sweeping historical novel follows a cast of interconnected characters whose destinies are shaped by love, ambition, betrayal, and political turmoil. Moving between courtesan houses, bustling cities, and battle-scarred forests, the story explores what it means to fight for personal dignity and national freedom when the world seems determined to take both away.

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Country
South Korea
Asia
About the author
Juhea Kim
Juhea Kim

Juhea Kim is a Korean-born novelist and writer whose work explores history, identity, human relationships, and the natural world. Born in South Korea, she moved to Portland, Oregon, at the age of nine and later studied art and archaeology at Princeton University. Her writing has appeared in literary publications including Granta, The Times Literary Supplement, The Independent, and Guernica. Kim made her literary debut with Beasts of a Little Land (2021), an ambitious historical novel set against the Korean independence movement. The book became an international bestseller, won Russia’s Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award, and was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Her second novel, City of Night Birds, was published in 2025 and explores the world of professional ballet. Kim is also the founder and editor of Peaceful Dumpling, an online publication focused on sustainable living and ecological literature.

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Details
Published
2021
Author
Juhea Kim