‘The Red Palace’ is out in the world!
Hello friends!
The day has arrived... THE RED PALACE is finally out in the world. I'm so incredibly excited to share this book with you! Tonight, in celebration, I'll be in conversation with New York Times bestselling author, Joan He, and you are cordially invited! The virtual event is free and open to all, and it'll take place at 7PM CT / 8PM EST, hosted by Best of Books. Make sure you register beforehand to access the zoom event!
Hope to see you there! :)
Behind-The-Scenes of THE RED PALACE
Many people have asked me what the inspiration was behind my latest book, and I thought I'd share a bit about it!
The main source of inspiration came from Crown Prince Sado’s life and death, which many claim to be one of the greatest tragedies in Joseon Dynasty-era Korea. I’d grown up with stories about him since I was a kid, but I’d never dug too deeply.
Then, in 2015, I stumbled across his story while researching for my debut, and what I found left me fascinated and utterly heartbroken. I learned about a prince who yearned for his father’s affection, and a father who was constantly disappointed in his son. His disappointment spiraled into hatred. In the end, King Yeongjo would sentence his son to death by starvation in a rice chest. (If you’d like to learn more about the tragic Crown Prince Sado, you can check out my previous newsletter, where I offer a more in-depth look into his life).
Over the years, I tried several times to write a book that centered around Crown Prince Sado, but scrapped the drafts each time. The story just wouldn’t flow; it never felt right. So I put my Prince Sado obsession aside, thinking I’d never be able to tell a story about him.
Then, while revising my second novel, my editor Emily Settle suggested a Palace Nurse x Investigator romantic pairing. Here’s a screenshot of the comment from May 1st, 2020 that would end up sparking the story idea for THE RED PALACE.
She’d written: “You said you want to write a romance right? Maybe you can write one about a palace nurse and an amhaengeosa 😊” (An amhaengeosa is a secret royal investigator)
I often think back to this comment left by my editor, and it amazes me how book ideas are formed—sometimes from a tidal wave of inspiration, and sometimes from a single, powerful spark. I truly do not think THE RED PALACE would have existed without Emily (I can go on writing an essay about how awesome and inspiring she is, but I’ll leave that for another day). Her comment shifted something in my brain, and helped me perceive Crown Prince Sado’s story from a different angle. I realized I didn’t need to tell the prince’s story from up-close; I could tell his story from afar.
So I decided to tell the story through the point-of-view of a palace nurse, and at once, the entire story fell into place. Palace Nurse Hyeon is a character who witnesses history—and the prince’s downfall—through a keyhole. This allowed me enough space to make THE RED PALACE about her life, rather than the Crown Prince’s life, while still threading his story throughout the book.
The main reason why I enjoyed writing through the palace nurse's perspective is that I find myself always drawn to stories of marginalized women—women whose stories we do not come across as frequently in history. And nurses in general were indeed a marginalized group of women during the Joseon Dynasty-era. Nurses back then were not well-respected, and mostly looked down upon, as they all belonged to the servant class.
You’re probably wondering: Why were female servants used as nurses?
(Excuse me as I nerd out about history here...)
The answer is: Because women of higher-classes needed to adhere to the man/woman segregation rule [a Confucian law called ‘naewabeop/내외법’]. Respectable women were seen as belonging to the inner sphere and were not permitted to work outside the house, and they certainly were not allowed to interact freely with men. And so servant girls between the ages of 10 and 15 were chosen and trained. As servants, they were able to freely interact with male patients and physicians, and so that’s why nurses were considered “polluted” and “scandalous” despite their immense knowledge in medicine. The silver lining was that, every year, two nurses with the highest grades would be chosen to serve in the palace. And palace nurses were respected far more than local pharmacy nurses.
This book therefore gave me the chance to research about this fascinating professional group of women. And I had lots of fun exploring the tension Palace Nurse Hyeon would have felt—as a girl born into a lowly social status yet also handpicked to serve as a palace nurse.
In fact, I had so much fun writing THE RED PALACE that I consider it to be my “game changer” book. It was the story that dared me to have fun, to be a little silly, and to not take everything so seriously. This book, ultimately, helped me rediscover the joy of writing—a joy I’d lost over the decade spent trying and constantly failing to get my other works published.
It was a joy that had me leaping out of my chair in the middle of the night, squealing quietly and doing a little dance around the room (and trying not to wake my family up), because writing was filling me with so much delight.
And so my hope is that you will enjoy reading THE RED PALACE as much as I did writing it. I hope this book will sweep you far, far away, and immerse you deep in the world of 18th century Joseon Dynasty-era Korea, with all its splendor…and danger <3
As always, thank you for reading!
I’m so excited to share THE RED PALACE with you all. It feels like I’ve been waiting for this day since forever ago! It’s also rather mind-boggling to think that I’m now the author of three books, and that all three books were published during a pandemic. I've almost only interacted with readers/bloggers/authors/booksellers/librarians virtually, but even still, I am often moved by how supportive everyone has been. It truly means so much to me!
Bye for now!
June
