BOOKS & MORE BOOKS: WHEN A READER BECOMES A WRITER

 

A Story Sixteen Years in the Making

A few weeks ago, I was absent-mindedly scrolling through Instagram when a familiar name suddenly made me stop.

June Hur.

For a moment I wondered, Could it really be the same June?

It was.

Sixteen years ago, she was one of the young bloggers I interviewed on FLY HIGH!. We used to exchange emails about Jane Austen, period dramas, British actors and, above all, books. She often told me about her greatest dream: one day becoming a published writer.

Life moved on. We gradually lost touch.

Then, thanks to one of those rare moments when social media gets something wonderfully right, June unexpectedly found her way back into my life.

Only this time she wasn't an aspiring writer anymore.

She was a New York Times bestselling author celebrating the publication of her fourth novel.

Some stories begin with a book.

This one began with a reader.

Why I Couldn't Resist This Novel

If you've been following FLY HIGH! over the past few years, you'll know that I have developed a real passion for Korean literature, Korean history and Korean dramas.

So imagine my reaction when I discovered that June's newest novel was inspired by Pride and Prejudice and set in eighteenth-century Joseon Korea.

Jane Austen.

Joseon Korea.

Forbidden books.

Anonymous letters.

How could I not read it?

I ordered the novel as soon as it became available and couldn't wait for it to arrive.

Set in 1792, during a real government ban on fiction, Behind Five Willows introduces us to Shin Haewon, who secretly copies forbidden novels under the pen name "Magpie", and Yu Seojun, a young nobleman who secretly writes fiction under the name "Black Lotus". Before they truly meet, they already know each other through the anonymous letters they exchange.

Yes, readers familiar with Pride and Prejudice will enjoy recognising affectionate echoes of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. But this is far more than a Korean retelling of Austen's masterpiece.

It is, first and foremost, a book about books.

And I think that's the reason it won me over from the very first pages.

 

What I Loved Most

I loved the historical setting, which felt wonderfully alive without ever slowing down the story. The ban on fiction isn't simply part of the background: it shapes the lives of every character, creating a world where reading itself becomes an act of courage.

I loved the conversations about books, the secret exchange of letters, the hidden network of readers and writers determined to keep stories alive despite every prohibition.

I loved Haewon.

Not because she reminded me of Elizabeth Bennet, but because she reminded me of another girl entirely.

My younger self.

As a child—and later as a teenager—I was an insatiable reader. There were never enough books. Libraries felt magical. Bookshops were places where I could happily lose all sense of time. Every shelf seemed to promise another adventure, another life, another world waiting patiently to be discovered.

When Haewon first steps into Five Willows and describes shelves filled with "ten thousand lifetimes pressed between covers", I smiled. I knew exactly what she meant.

Even today, whenever I walk into a library or a bookshop, I still feel that same quiet excitement.

Perhaps that is why Behind Five Willows felt so welcoming.

It reminded me why I fell in love with reading in the first place.

And perhaps that is the greatest compliment I can pay June Hur's novel.

It made me feel, once again, like the girl who believed there could never be too many books.

 Read my interview with June Hur at My Jane Austen Book Club