I read this the day I visited Gyeongbokgung palace, formerly the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. I had a very interesting time listening to the tour guide and I was quite struck by the fact that something I learnt in the tour – that the King is always depicted with certain symbols, such as the mountain, moon, and sun on a screen – was also echoed in the book as our protagonist Baek Hyeong sees the king sitting in front of a screen with the same symbols.

The Red Palace is a murder mystery set in 18th-century Joseon. 18-year-old Baek Hyeon is a palace nurse and the illegitimate daughter of a Minister of Justice. Determined to win her approval, she sets her mind to excelling at her profession, but everything is derailed when a massacre occurs. Hyeon’s mentor, nurse Jeongsu has been fingered as the main culprit and Baek Hyeon is determined to prove her innocent. To do this, she teams up with Eojin, a prodigy who is an inspector and the two of them face palace politics in their quest to find the truth.

This was honestly such an engrossing book! Apart from the murder mystery, which had me guessing till the end, I really adored the way Hur depicts relationships and how complicated they are. Baek Hyeon’s need for her father’s approval is one big one, but her tense relationship with her mother was amazing to watch unfold.

And of course, the strict Confucian rules under which men and women must act complicate everything. Hyeon has duties – as a nurse, as a daughter, and as a woman in general. But she has her own goals, and this tension between propriety and desire was illustrated so clearly in the words of Lady Hyegyoung, the wife of Crown Pring Jangheon:

“We are women,” she continued, “and nothing short of death stops us from doing precisely what we wish to do. That is what the laws and restrictions binding our lives breed: determination and cunning.”

Hyeon’s relationship with Eojin does develop into a romance and while I wasn’t swooning over it, I did find it very natural and I liked how they both contributed to the relationship and the investigation.

Overall, this was a fantastic read – I enjoyed the setting, the plot, and the characters! If you’re looking for a mystery set in Korea, you definitely have to pick this up. For me, I’m definitely keen on reading more from June Hur now.

P.s. This novel was inspired by the life of Crown Prince Jangheon, also known as Crown Prince Sado. His life is really tragic and I would recommend the movie The Throne if you would like to watch something about him (I’m linking to the Wikipedia page but there are spoilers there so beware if that’s not your thing).