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The Red Queen

a Transcultural Tragicomedy
Feb 04, 2018dnk rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I had this on my bookshelf for over four years before I finally decided to read it. As a Korean American who has taught some Korean history, I just wasn't in the mood to read yet more about Korea from a "Western" point of view. So I was pleasantly surprised to find how much the author got right about the history, and how much she could make me care about the ancient heroine. However, as I was reading, I couldn't help but compare it to People of the Book: A Novel. I thought the structure of that book "worked": it started in the present and alternated with the past, each time going a little deeper. But this had all of the Crown Princess' story, then all of the modern professor's story. The Crown Princess was truly compelling- why would I want to leave her for the professor? Because Drabble did an excellent job with her. It was slower going, but that's to be expected as the Princess spoke in the first person and the professor's story was told, from the "limited omniscient" (and let's leave it at that). She has more freedom from the princess, but she is, in her own way, just as lonely. Her choices made me cringe- sorry, being a concubine is even less attractive in the modern era than it was in the ancient- but in Drabble's hands I could understand why she made them. Yes, some of the parallels were too obvious, but some were subtle and touching. I did not like the way the author inserted herself into the story- let's keep that fourth wall up, please- but it felt, in a way, as if she didn't want to let go of the characters and wanted to make sure she helped play as much of a part as she could. It's difficult to find too much fault for that. Although much happens to both heroines, I believe the "scarlet thread" that goes through both stories is parenthood. We see how horribly wrong it can go, and we see the great lengths which parents will go to in order to protect their children and legacy. That, perhaps, is why this story IS so universal, however the author may have stumbled in certain places.