Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han

A lyrical and suspenseful debut novel about a mysteriously gifted Korean family confronting the brutality of the Japanese empire.

A sister disappears and returns as a tiger. A mother’s voice compels the truth from any tongue. A granddaughter divines secrets in others’ dreams.

Spanning ninety years as one family is displaced across Asia, this novel follows Young-Ja, who finds herself struggling to survive after her family is killed by Japanese soldiers. The magical gift that once brought her joy – the ability to infuse her cooking with her feelings: love, peace, delight – transforms into something more powerful as her sorrow and anger seeps into her confections.

When her talent is noticed by a Korean resistance fighter, she’s taken to Manchuria where she becomes enmeshed in a network of spies at a teahouse favoured by Japanese officials. Haunted at every turn by the spectre of Japanese soldiers, she endures horrors and brutality at the hands of the Imperial Army.

With spellbinding inter-generational sweep and atmospheric magical realism, Honey in the Wound explores the ways colonialism forces one family to transform, and ultimately survive.

Spanning ninety years as one family of gifted Korean women’s lives are upended under Japanese imperialism, Honey in the Wound is a powerful and sweeping debut novel for fans of Pachinko and Homegoing.

About the Author: Jiyoung Han was born in Seoul, Korea, and grew up in the American Midwest. She has lived and worked in four continents but now calls San Francisco home. When not writing, she conducts research in climate change and human decision-making. Honey in the Wound is her debut novel.

16 Apr 2026
 

Honey in the Wound: A magical and epic tale of survival set over a century of Korean history by Jiyoung Han ISBN 9781786587329